LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



j Slielf....VV^„ 



UNITED STATES OE AMERICA. 



CHILDREN WITH THE FISHES 



BY 



MRS. A. E. xlNDERSON-MASKELL 



f"- 




ILLUSTRATED 

( Jul ^^ ..^- - 

BOSTON 
D LOTHROP COMPANY 

FRANKLIN AND HAWLEY STREETS 



\ 



Copyright, 1887, 

BY 
D. LOTHROI COMFANY. 







CHAPTER I. 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



Frank, like almost all boys, was fond of fishing. 
One day he persuaded Grace and his little sisters to 
accompany him. The first fish caught was a fine 
speckled trout. 

" Isn't he booful ! " exclaimed little Rose, dancing 
around the tub of water in which the shining crea- 
ture had been placed. 

" You certainly are fortunate," said Grace. " I 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



didn't know trout were to be found here ; but they 
are found in great quantities in the eastern and 
western states." 

" Thanks to our fish-commissioners that we do 
find them here," said Frank. " There are more sun- 
fish, cat-fish and perch than anything else." 

Rose was amusing herself by taking up the fish in 
her hands and commenting on how easily it slipped 
through her fingers. 

" What makes it so slipp y ? " she asked. 

" The slime," answered Grace. 

" But where does the s'ime come from ? " she 
asked. 

" Suppose, Frank, you stop fishing for awhile that 
we may talk a little. In what way is a fish different 
from other animals, Rose ? " 

" 'Em haven't any necks nor hair, and 'em's dot 
lots of scales on 'em. And I tan't see any nose nor 
ears. 'Em 's dust dot two bright eyes without any 
winkers, and a dreat bid mouf." 

" Their fins are their legs and arms ; and now 
write^ down upon your papers the names of all the 
fins. The two fins at the sides which you might 
almost fancy to be ears, are the pectoral fins and 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



answer the purpose of fore-legs or arms. One fin 
under the breast is called the ventral, the other the 
anal. The fins on the back are called the dorsal 
fins, and the tail is the caudal fin. It is with the last 
named fin that the fish moves through the water, the 
office of the other fins being to balance and direct 
the body. In watching a fish swim have you not 
noticed how gracefully it waves its tail, while the 
other fins seem just spread out for aids t " 

" I have," said Frank. 

" But where does the slippery stuff come from } " 
asked May. 

'' I am coming to that directly. Do yon notice 
the line down the sides of the fish ? All the scales 
of this line have tiny holes in them through which 
the slime escapes to cover the body of the fish so 
that it can move more easily through the water. 
There are also tiny mucous holes in the head, sur- 
rounding the nostrils, where much more slime es- 
capes than from the lines down the body. This 
mucous is a sort of defensive secretion which the 
water always carries backwards over the whole sur- 
face of the fish's body ! " 

" How very strange ! " exclaimed May. 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



" What makes him open and shut his mouf all 
the time for ? " asked little wide-awake Rose, peering 
down into the tub. 

" That is the way he breathes. Air is mixed 
with the water, and some of it he retains, but the 
rest of it passes out of the gills with the water." 

" Has he really no ears ? " asked May. 

"None that appear; and most naturalists believe 
they only /ee/ sound. Water is a much better con- 
ductor of sound than air, so that fish do not require 
a development of ears, perhaps. If they had such 
ears as we, what a tumultuous world it would seem 
to them ! There is within the fish, however, an 
internal organ serving the purpose of ears, much 
the same as though our ears were entirely covered 
over with a thick skin. Do you understand ? " 

The children thought they did, and Grace con- 
tinued : " Trout belong to the SalmonidcB family." 

" Do tell us something about salmon," said Frank. 

" Salmon belong principally to the sea, but enter 
the rivers to deposit their spawn. It is then they 
are caught in such large quantities for the table. 
They are partial to clear, rapid rivers with strong 
bottoms. Male and female both ascend the rivers, 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



and both unite in forming holes a foot or two deep. 
After the spawn is placed in these receptacles they 
are covered up carefully, and the salmon return to 
the sea lean and emaciated. These myriads of little 
eggs lie in their holes until the next spring, when 
they are hatched. The common, or river trout, like 
the one we have here, resembles the salmon in its 
habits. September and October are their months 
for spawning. They are often found under a stone 
or log. The best bait for trout is flies. Now, 
Frank, suppose you try your luck, again. You and 
May fish, while Rose and I talk." 

May soon caught a large perch. 

" Be careful," called out Frank, " or it will stick 
its fins into you." 

" Is the perch so pugnacious as that ? " asked 
Grace. 

" Yes, indeed ; see every fin on its back bristling 
with rage — " 

Here Frank interrupted himself by drawing up 
a good-sized sun-fish. 

" I wonder what they call this a sun-fish, for ? " 
he said, as he took it from the hook. 

" It is not the true sun-fish," said Grace. " This 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



is only a species of the perch family. The real sun- 
fish is found in the Atlantic ocean. It seems all 
head, and is supposed to be called sun-fish because 
it is shining and round like the sun." 

" Is it a small fish } " asked Frank. 

" By no means. Some of them will weigh five 
or six hundred pounds." 

" Our little sun-fishes are pretty if they don't look 
like the sun," said May. 

" Them's dot pitty wed fins," said Rose. 

" So has the perch," said May. 

" Perch are the hungriest fish I ever saw," said 
Frank. " If you once get into a school of them, 
and have plenty of bait, you can catch every one if 
you are careful." 

" Are they any hungrier than pike," asked Grace. 

" I didn't think of them when I spoke ; but a 
pike daresn't touch a perch. A perch is always 
ready for him." 

" Do you ever catcU any pike, here? "asked Grace. 

" We catch them down in the mill-pond in winter- 
time. A hole is cut through the ice and the bait 
let down. They are so hungry that great numbers 
are caught. The pike is a long, slim fish." 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



" The pike," said Grace, " is the biggest eater of 
all the fish, eating anything it can swallow. Many a 
time it has choked to death trying to swallow some- 
thing larger than itself. The pike, as well as the 
pickerel of the New England states, belongs to the 
EsocidcE family. They have large mouths, sharp 
teeth and soft fins." 




*' Is a pickerel as large as a pike ? " asked Frank. 

" Didn't you know pickerel is the diminutive of 
pike ? I have heard that pike live to be two or three 
hundred years old. I doubt it though." 




l.'M\jRjEi^A(Miirce7ia helena). 2. 'LAMFR^Y{Petrom^zon marines). 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



" How I wish we had some way of catching fish 
without a hook ! " said May. " I think the Httle sun- 
fish would look almost as pretty in an aquarium 
as a gold-fish. He would be just as entertaining, 
anyway." 

" O let's tatch some dold-fish ! " exclaimed Rose. 

" You would have to go to China to do that," said 
Frank. 

" No," said Grace. " It is true they are natives of 
China, but they were introduced into England, and 
from there were brought to the United States. A 
great number of them are raised in artificial ponds 
in both countries, until they have become so cheap 
anybody ean afford to keep one or two. When first 
hatched the gold-fish is entirely black, afterwards it 
becomes white, and again changes to a gold color. 
Some of them are a beautiful red, sprinkled with 
gold ; others are white, like silver, and others white, 
spotted with red. 

'' Gold-fish will live a long time upon nothing else 
than the animalculae they can collect from frequently 
changed water. They will, however, eagerly sieze 
bread crumbs. They belong to the Cyprinidcs family. 
The roach also belongs to this family — " 



441 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



A startling cry from May, interrupted. 

Her hook had suddenly disappeared from sight, 
and fearing the fish would get away she had given 
her line a spasmodic jerk, only to feel an eel switch- 
ing its cold body about her neck. She was nearly 
frantic with fright. Frank sprang to her rescue. 

" It is nothing but an eel ! Let me get it off the 
hook. You'll never do it in the world. Well, I de- 
clare, if he hasn't swallowed the hook clear down ! 
I'll have to cut his head off to get it." 

" Let the hook go, and the horrid creature, too," 
exclaimed May, in great excitement. '* I'll never fish 
again as long as I live." 

" Nonsense ! " exclaimed Frank. " Eels are just as 
good as cat-fish." 

" It's a horrid water-snake," exclaimed May. " The 
very meaning of the word ' eel' is ' serpent '." 

" Yes," smiled Grace, " but this is an eel of the 
Anguillidce family, a fresh-water fish with pectoral, 
anal and dorsal fins. Then if you will examine him 
closely you will find scales imbedded in his thick, 
soft skin. He will be a delicious morsel for our sup- 
per, ugly as he looks. The ancients were very fond 
of eels. They were deified by the Egyptians, and 

442 




S K a-Serp kn t ( Oj^/ilsura) . 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



made much account of by the classic Greeks. 
There were the Murcena and Lamprey that figured 
so conspicuously on the tables of the Romans. 
They are found in the Mediterranean sea. The 
OphiseridcB family, the snake-eels, are distinguished 
by the tail ending in a round fin without a point." 

" Cousin Grace, did you ever see a sea-serpent } " 
asked Frank. 

" No ; but they are a species of the OphiseridcB 
family." 

" What, the snake-eels ? " asked Frank, in surprise. 

" Yes ; why not .? " 

" Why, I thought a sea-serpent was something 
immense — say a hundred feet long." 

" There has often been great agitation in various 
parts of the world over an imaginary sea-serpent. 
Hundreds testified to having seen these monsters 
following in the wake of ships; but when sailors 
were bold enough to thoroughly investigate, the sea- 
monster was often discovered to be no more than 
floating sea-weed. There is a real sea-serpent, 
however, but it belongs to the same family, genus at 
least, as the snake-eel. The real sea-serpent is not 
thicker than a man's arm, nor does it measure more 

445 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



than six feet in length. It has a long and pointed 
nose, and fins which extend all the way down the 
back of the animal, as well as nearly all the way 
under it. It breathes by means of gills, like a fish." 

" Cousin Grace, did you ever see a flying-fish ? " 
asked May 

" Yes," said Grace. 

" Do tell us all about them," said Frank, hauling 
in his line, and flinging himself down on the grass. 

" Of all the fish, I think a fish with wings must be 
the most interesting," said May. 

" Have 'em dot f ewers on their wings ? " asked Rose. 

" No, their wings are nothing but great long fins. 
Their pectoral fins are composed of seven or eight 
ribs, connected by a transparent, glutinous mem- 
brane. These little fishes can raise and flap their 
wings like little birds." 

" Are they little ? " asked Frank. 

" There are many species, ranging from three to 
twelve inches in length. Swimming in the water 
they have much the appearance of swallows, only 
they always swim in straight lines. They have 
black backs, white stomachs and long forked tails 
like the swallows." 




Argonauta, in three positions. 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



" But what do fish have wings for ? " asked Rose. 

" Because they have so many enemies, I suppose. 
They Uve in large shoals, and the dorado, thunny 
and many other fish get into a shoal and devour 
large numbers. The little creatures cannot fly fast 
enough in the water, so they leap into the air, flying 
fifty or sixty yards at a time, scarcely ever more, as 
when their fins become dry they drop back into the 
water. Sometimes, they plunge beneath, rewet their 
fins, then continue their flight. But enemies await 
them here. Sea-birds often pounce upon them, too. 
The eyes of these fish protrude so that they can 
see danger from every quarter. Sometimes when 
flying, they become suddenly exhausted, and fall 
with such force upon decks of ships as to be killed 
in great numbers. One of the most singular of the 
flying-fish is the dragon-fish, or Pegasus-draco. It 
looks something like a crocodile with fan-like wings 
upon each side. It is three or four inches in length, 
and belongs to the sea-horse pipe-fish genus. The 
males carry the eggs in their coat-tail pockets until 
they are hatched," 

" Now, Tousin Grace, you're jokin', I just know! 



449 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



'Tause no little fish have toat-tails. They don't wear 
toats, at all," said Rose. 

"Not cloth ones," laughed Grace, "but shining 
scaly coats, so thick on the dragon-fish as to form 
a sort of armor. Their coat-pockets are pouches on 
their tails — a sort of sack." 




" I should think they might call it an angel-fish 
as well as a dragon-fish, or is it so very ugly ? " 
said May. 

" Not near so ugly as a fish that really bears that 
name," said Grace. 

450 




The riiGAsus Dkagon {l^egasus-dracd). 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



" Then there is really an angel-fish ? " exclaimed 
May, delightedly. 

" Yes, one of the ugliest of fishes, and it cannot 
fly at all." 

" Perhaps it gets its name from its gentle disposi- 
tion," suggested May. 

" No ; it is very fierce, voracious and dangerous. 
Nobody likes to approach it. It is longer than a 
man and weighs a hundred pounds." 

" O dear ! Then what do they call it an angel-fish 
for ? " asked May. 

" just a satire on its extreme ugliness I suppose ; 
or it may be called that from its clumsy, awkward- 
shaped pectoral fins. It has another name which 
may be a little more appropriate, and that is monk- 
fish, from the supposed hooded resemblance to a 
monk's head. It is a very singular-looking fish 
indeed. It belongs to the Sycralidce family, the 
same as does the shark and sword-fish." 

" I was reading in the morning paper to-day that 
sharks were unusually thick this season along the 
Atlantic coast. Some little boys were bathing, 
when some fishermen came up in a boat, telling 
them that there were sharks a short distance away. 

453 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



The little boys wereiso frightened that they couldn't 
get their clothes on fast enough. I'd like to have 
seen Pat Ryan scared by such a yarn ; and I think 
I wouldn't mind seeing one myself," said Frank. 

" I wouldn't," said May. " They're terrible. They 
have such great teeth and large mouths that they 
can just bite a man in two at one snap of their jaws, 
can't they. Cousin Grace ? " 

" They are the most dreaded of all the fishes. 
The white shark is the most terrible, reaching some- 
times the length of twenty or thirty feet. The 
mouth with its six rows of bristling teeth, looks 
terrible indeed. He will outstrip the swiftest vessel, 
and his perserverance is indefatigable. One will 
follow in the wake of a ship for days, to pick up 
the refuse thrown overboard." 

" Don't sailors ever catch them ? " asked Frank. 

" O yes. A very large hook is baited with a 
chunk of salt pork and let down from the ship's 
side. The shark no sooner sees it, than he swims 
up, throws himself over on his side and gobbles it 
down, the hook becoming fast in his throat. A har- 
poon is plunged in his body, and the animal lifted 
from the sea, and speedily finished with handspikes 

454 



— ^?l:,AiiHiili; „ 




fr^ ^ 



Squalida, or Angel-fish. 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



and axes. His thick skin is made into sheaths and 
cases, and his liver yields an oil for dressing skins. 
Their bodies emit a phosphoric light in the dark. 
There are more than thirty species of sharks, but 
none so much dreaded as the one we have just been 
speaking about. The basking shark, though as 
large as the white shark, is perfectly harmless. It 
loves to lie on the surface of the water, sometimes 
on its stomach and again upon its back, basking, 
and will allow itself to be patted and stroked. Then 
there is the blue shark, the fox shark and others. 
The oddest looking of all the sharks is the hammer- 
heads. It resembles the white shark, except in the 
curious formation of its head, which is like a sort of 
a double-headed hammer, with eyes in each end, 
giving to the creature an extended power of sight." 

Grace then examined the papers of her little 
class, and found the following facts : 

" Fishes are cold-blooded, Vertebrated animals, 
have fins in place of limbs, and breathe by means 
of Branchial^ or gills. 

" Trout belong to the Salmonidcs familv, and 
therefore to the same order as the salmon, Malacop- 
terygious fishes. 

4sy 



THE FISHING PARTY. 



" Pike and pickerel belong to the EsocidcB family, 
and to the same order as the trout. 

" The gold-fish and the roach belong to the 
Cyprinidce family. 

Eels belong to the Anguillida family. Sea- 
serpents and snake-eels to the OphiscridcE. 

Flying-fish are Malacoptergious fishes, and belong 
to the ExocoetidcB family. 

Angel-fish and sharks belong to the Squalidcs 
family, and to the Chondropterygian order. 



458 




^^ 



.^^1,^ 



CHAPTER II. 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



A favorite place of resort for the little students of 
natural history and their teacher, was a mossy rock 
projecting a little way over a clear, sparkling stream 
of water ; and as it was in the vicinity of Pat's home, 
they often found him there before them. 

One day they found him standing ankle deep in 
the water, and as Frank flung aside his straw hat to 
meet the cool, gentle breeze, he cried out : " What 
are you doing there, Pat ? " 

459 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



" Catching lobsters," said Pat, touching his funny 
home-made cap awkwardly in the direction of Grace 
and the little girls, who stood in the back-ground, 

" How do you catch them ? " asked Grace. 

" Aisy enough, mum. I jist puts my hand down 
inter the wather and they takes hold of my finger, 
mum ! " 

" Why, Pat, don't they hurt } " 

" Hardly a bit, mum. You see I'm always keerful 
which one of the nippers they take hold with." 

" Is there a difference in their two pincers ? " 
asked Grace. 

" O yis, mum, one of his pincers is full of teeth 
loike the edge of a saw ; the other one has knobs in 
place of teeth. When the lobster is eating he uses 
the pincers with the knobs to hold on by, while he 
cuts up his food with the one that is full of teeth. 
I'm always keerful, mum, that the lobster shall use 
his knobby pincer in taking hold of my fingers. I'll 
show ye, mum," 

So Pat peered down to find a lobster. " There 
goes one, mum. Wait a minute and I'll have him," 
and the next moment Pat did draw up his hand with 
a lobster clinging fast to the nail of his fore-finger. 

400 




HuMiN*. For Lobsters. 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



" I guess it hurts a little," laughed Frank, " the 
way you show your teeth." 

" The pesky thing does hold on uncommon tight ! " 
exclaimed Pat, shaking his hand violently. Not suc- 
ceeding in making it loosen its hold, he deliberately 
broke off the claw that was attached to his finger, 
letting the lobster drop back into the water. 

" How cruel! " exclaimed May. 

" Pho ! that's nothin'," said Pat. " It'll grow on 
again." 

" I dess you's a big stowy teller, Pat Wyan," said 
little Rose, indignantly, "for didn't Willie Brooks 
get his finger chopped off — and it never, never 
growed on again ! " 

" Pat is right," said Grace, 

" To be sure I am, mum. Why, sometimes they 
bite them off themselves — and I kin tell you some- 
thing quarer than that, I kin. IVe been doon here 
when it thundered, and when a purty hard clap come 
what did the lobsters be afther doing but shooting 
up their claws jist as if they were nearly skeered to 
death, so skeered that their claws dropped off ! I've 
seen their claws drop clane off many a toime ; but 
they always grow on again." 

463 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



The children looked questioningly towards their 
cousin. 

" I think we shall have to let Pat be teacher for 
to-day," said Grace. " I have read of such things, 
but never saw them." 

" I've laid on this rock and watched them for 
hours and hours. I've skeered 'em, sometimes, and 
then, Miss, you ought see 'em jump back'ard. They 
shid their shells, too, mum, ivery year. They seem 
to be sick for a while before their old shells come 
off. For three or four days afther the old shells 
come off they have to hide under rocks and cracks 
or else they would git eaten up by fish. Durin' that 
toime they're growin', too, and when they gits on 
their nice new shells they're almost as big agin as 
when they had on their old shells." 

"This is all very interesting, Pat," said Grace, 
seating herself upon the rock with her little cousins 
around her. " Can you tell me what lobsters feed 
upon : 

" They ates plants under the wather, and little 
fish," replied Pat. 

" Do they nurse their little ones with milk ? " 
asked Grace. 

464 




AMERiCA]sr Lobster. 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



Pat looked surprised. ''Ye must be afther jokin, 
Miss. It's thousands upon thousands of eggs they 
be afther stickin' in the sand to hatch. They carry 
them under their tails so quare loike 'fore they 
lay 'em." 

" I see, Pat, you are a close student of nature." 

" What's the difference between a lobster and a 
scorpion ? " asked Frank. " I've got a picture of a 
scorpion in my pocket, and it looks just like a lob- 
ster." 

" Not quite I guess. A scorpion does not belong- 
to the crab tribe," said Grace. " He is more like a 
spider." 

Frank drew the picture from his pocket, and the 
children clustered around him to see it. 

" You see the scorpion has a long tail, and in it a 
curved sting. In your picture he has caught a 
locust and is preparing to sting it. You can see 
that the sting is curved. That little, fleshy protu- 
berance near the sting contains the poison. The 
scorpion is not near so large as the lobster, except 
in very warm countries, and there it would nearly 
reach the size of a common lobster. The sting of 
the larger kind is very venomous, often causing 

467 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



death. These large ones are sometimes over a foot 
in length. The most common species are little 
more than an inch in length. The stings of the 
smallest are fatal to small animals and extremely so 
to man, and require the most careful dressing to 
prevent mortification. Scorpions have claws very 
much like lobsters' ; but their feet are like spiders'. 
In fact they are more like a spider than anything 
else, belonging to the same family. Some of the 
scorpions have six eyes and others, eight. Though 
it is so ugly and has such a bad name, it is very ten- 
der of its young. The scorpion-mother seeks a 
retreat where her little ones will be out of all danger 
and for several days carries them upon her back. You 
see there is scarcely a thing in nature howsoever dis- 
agreeable but that has some good trait. But let us 
go back to creatures of the water. Do you ever 
catch crabs, Pat? " 

" Yis, mum, but there's none in fresh wather. 
You'll foind them near salt wather, to be sure. I 
often go with Farmer Hough down to the salt 
marsh and there's a place they call ' the drownded 
marsh,' becase the wathers have overflowed it ; well, 
mum, the crabs are thick enough down there." 

468 




The Crab. 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



" How do you catch them ? " 

" I takes a long Hne and ties a piece of mate or 
chicken to the end of it and lets it doon in the 
wather when, sure, mum, sometimes, two or three 
will take hold at once and then I puts my crab-net 
under thim and jist hist thim out aisy loike, mum." 

" Are they like lobsters ? " asked Frank, very much 
interested. 

" They have pincers like the lobsters, and are cov- 
ered with a shell ; but they are round as a spider. 
The head is fastened to the brist without any jint 
and it has little eyes which look as if they was tr3an' 
to pop out of its head. The crabs have eight legs 
and don't look as if they had any tail at all, as it is 
bent under the body, in a hollow betwixt the legs." 

" Arn't they any larger than a spider ? " asked 
May. 

" O yis, they're as big as my hand, and when all 
the legs are broke off and the shell — the mate is as 
white and swate to ate as any flesh you iver saw. 
We boil the pincers, too, thin crack them and suck 
out the white mate. They shid their shells once 
ivery yare, like the lobster, and seem to be jist 
loike the lobster in all their habits. They ate 

471 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



all koinds of dead flesh that comes in their way. 
Sometimes they foight loike the nation, breaking off 
each other's claws in their fury." 

" Isn't there a land-crab ? " asked Grace. 

"O yis, mum, there's the little fiddler — he's a 
land-crab." 

" Does he fiddle ? " asked Rose, opening her eyes 
very wide. 

" He makes a noise that sounds something like a 
fiddle, I've heard him mony a time to be sure. They 
look like a wather-crab only they're not so large, 
thin they only hev one pincer. They burrow in the 
sand and live in families." 

" But don't land-crabs breathe like fish, same as 
water-crabs do ? " asked Frank. 

" Yes, they breathe by means of gills, yet are not 
aquatic," said Grace. " It is necessary, however, that 
their homes in the sand contain enough moisture to 
prevent their gills from becoming too dry. There 
are several species of crabs, one of which lives in 
hollow trees, clefts in rocks, and in holes which they 
dig for themselves in the sides of mountains. But 
when it comes time for them to lay their eggs, they 
travel by the million down to the sea-coast. This is 

472 




PSEUDOCAllCINUB GlGAS. 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



during the months of April and May. The whole 
ground seems swarming with them, and if they meet 
any impediment in their way, so straight do they 
march that though it be the walls of a house they 
attempt to scale it. They are, sometimes, three 
months or more in reaching the shore. Their eggs 
resemble the roe of a herring, and are about as large 
as a hen's egg. They leave them near the edge of 
the water to be hatched by the heat of the sun. 
Not more than one-third reach maturity. After the 
old ones have deposited their eggs they are feeble 
and stupid — so much so that they are obliged to dig 
holes in the ground and remain there for sometime 
to recuperate. During this time they shed their 
shells, after which they become very fat. Then they 
move slowly back to the mountains." 

" Have crabs fins ? " asked Frank. 

"Sure, and it's paddles he has for his hoind legs," 
said Pat. 

" They answer the same purpose as fins," said 
Grace. " They are flat and green, resembling the 
jointed branches of a cactus, without the prickles. 
more than anything else I can liken them to. They 
can paddle themselves along nicely with such fins 

475 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



But of all the crabs, the hermit-crab is the queerest. 
It has no shell of its own, so at once takes posses- 
sion of a deserted shell of some other animal, 
making many ludicrous attempts before it can find 
one that will exactly fit. Sometimes, two fight over 
the same shell, the strongest one coming off victo- 
rious, when he crows over the weaker one by parad- 
ing back and forth on the shore right before his 
eyes. Sometimes, a parasite attaches itself to the 
shell, the hermit-crab has appropriated to itself. 
This parasite is a sort of a sea-sunflower, so-called 
because it resembles this flower, though it is more 
commonly known as the sea-anemone, a family of 
Polyps, The hermit-crab makes many efforts to 
get clear of his burden, but when he finds it impos- 
sible he gives up and patiently bears his queer- 
looking load. But talking of the hermit-crab and 
his parasite, makes me think of the spider-crab. 
He is a little sea-animal, looking some like a spider, 
but much more like a little crab with eight legs, 
pincers and pop eyes. He plants tiny trees on his 
own back. He first covers his body with a mucilage 
from his own mouth, then sticks sea-weeds and 
marine plants on his back where they grow into a 

476 










Hermit Ck4b and Pakasitk. 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



thick swamp of little trees. Imagine a tiny forest 
of trees movino- alono; the sea-bed ! " 

" An' I niver heard the loikes of that, mum ! " 
exclaimed Pat, taking off his cap and scratching his 
head so funnily that the children burst out laughing. 

" Tell us something more about some more queer 
fellows," whispered May in her cousin's ear, with a 
sidelong glance over at Pat. 

Grace understood that the children relished Pat's 
quaint expressions, and so went on : 

" I will tell you about some of the Cephalopods, 
They are a class of molluscous animals, with eight 
long crooked legs projecting out from around their 
heads. The cuttle-fish is the most remarkable of 
all the Cephalopods. Besides their eight legs they 
have two feelers much longer than their arms or 
legs. All these arms and feelers are set with strong 
circular cups or suckers. The eight-armed cuttle- 
fish, in hot climates, is, sometimes, twelve feet across 
its center, and each one of its arms measuring 
between forty and fifty feet. It is then called the 
devil-fish." 

" Well, now ! " exclaimed Pat, scratching his head 

again. 

479 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



" When it seizes its prey it stretches out its long 
arms and applies its suckers to the surface of the 
body, then, drawing them up in the center, a vaccuum 
is formed, and they are fixed fast by the pressure of 
external air. Like crabs and lobsters, it is more 
easy to tear off their arms than to separate them in 
any other way; and like the crabs and lobsters 
their arms will grow again. Their mouths are so 
strong that they can easily break in pieces the shells 
of animals on which they feed. The ancients were 
fond of the cuttle-fish for food, and the Italians eat 
the monsters yet. Sometimes, when the Indians 
go out in their canoes, a great devil-fish will come 
along, and, spreading out its arms over the boat 
will sink it and its crew. The Indian is usually 
careful to take an axe along, so that the arm or 
arms of the fish may be instantly cut off the moment 
they appear upon the boat. The most curious 
thing, though, is that it is said to have three hearts, 
and always carries an immense inkstand under its 
throat. When frightened, it throws its ink out all 
around it, making the water so black it can easily 
escape, unseen. This ink is also so bitter as to 
drive off all its water-enemies." 

480 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



" Another foine tale, mum. Sure, and I loikes 
to hear such quare things. If Kenny was only 
here, I should loike it much." 

" Another strange Cephalopod, is the paper-nautilus 
or argonaut. The shell is as white and delicate- 
looking as paper, and though it becomes very brittle 
on being exposed to air, it is quite flexible in water, 
thus escaping destruction. It has eight arms, two 
of which are membranous. The most singular 
thing about this little fish is its power for sailing on 
the water. When the sea is calm, great numbers 
may be seen sailing about like little boats. It is 
said these creatures furnished the original idea of 
navigation." 

" But how do they do it 1 " asked Frank. 

" When they want a sail, all they have to do is to 
discharge enough water from their shells to make 
them sufficiently light to float, then they raise the 
two membranous arms for sails, and throw out the 
other six over the sides of their shell for oars. They 
are not attached to their shells, and for a long time 
it was thought that they took possession of deserted 
shells like the hermit-crabs, but since they have the 
power of repairing any injury done to their shell 

483 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



it is more than likely that the shell is its own 
especial property. When anything disturbs the 
little sailors, they draw in all their oars, take down 
their sails, fill themselves with water and sink to 
the bottom. Large quantities of these animals are 
found in the Indian Ocean and in the Mediterra- 
nean Sea." 

" Such a foine tale as that ! " exclaimed Pat, ad- 
miringly. " Surely, mum, and it's the wish of me 
life that I can sometime go to sea. Then I could 
see all the craythers for mesilf. But sure, mum, and 
I must go now. My mither sint me out to pick up 
sticks, and I jist stopped to look at the lobsters and 
forgot mesilf," and, hastily disappearing, Pat was 
soon heard breaking up sticks among the brush. 

" Now," said Cousin Grace, " what have we been 
talking about this morning ? " 

" I know," said little Rose, eagerly. 

"Well, dear?" 

" About lobsters and a 'tinging-bug and a crab- 
spider what plants trees on his back, and a awful 
big thing with free hearts and eight, oh ! dreat big 
arms, as long as a dreat high house, and a little fish 
that sails on the water — a paper-fish I " 

4M 




A Devil Fish, 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



" Cousin Grace, you told us of several kinds of 
crabs ; are there as many of lobsters ! " asked 
Frank. 

" There are prawns, shrimps and craw-fish which 
look very much like the American lobster. Prawns 
and shrimps are usually found among seaweed, a 
little distance from the shore. Shrimps are much 
smaller than prawn, and therefore are not so much 
prized as an edible. The craw-fish are found in 
every river and creek in England. In fact, these 
three last mentioned fish belong more particularly to 
England, yet species are found in all parts of the 
world — even in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky." 

" Cousin Grace, is it true that the fish in the 
Mammoth Cave have no eyes ? " asked May. 

" What would be the use of eyes if it is all dark 
there ? " answered Frank. 

" Some of them, it is true, have no eyes at all 
Others have eyes, but are entirely blind. That is a 
strange, dark river that flows through the Mammoth 
Cave. The little craw-fish in this cave have eyes, 
but can not see. Now, what can you tell me about 
the animals we have had to-day ? " 

" They are Articulates, because they are jointed," 

487 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



said Frank, " and they belong to the water-division 
of Articulates, because they breathe by means of 
their gills, and not through holes in their sides like 
insects." 

'' Articulates are divided into how many classes ? " 

" Five : insects, spiders, myriapods, crustaceans and 
worms," answered May. 

" What are myr'pods .^ " asked Rose. " I've fordot ? " 

" Don't you remember the long worms with so 
many legs 1 " asked May. 

" The centipede ? " asked Rose. 

" Yes, from the word cent, a hundred, and pede, 
foot — the worm with a hundred feet. Now I wish 
to know to which one of these classes lobsters and 
crabs belong .? " 

" To the Crustaceans, of course," said May. " I 
know from crust, the first part of the word ; for 
lobsters and crabs are covered with a hard crust." 

" Write this : " Crustaceans are divided into Deca- 
pods, Tetradecapods, Entomostraca^is, Cirripeds and 
Rotifiersr 

"What jaw-breakers!" exclaimed Frank, shrug- 
ging his shoulders. 

" Decapods',' continued Grace, " have ten feet with 

488 




Hammer-headed Shark. 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



claws, and are of large size, Teiradecapods, have 
fourteen feet, and are not more than one inch in 
length. Entomostracans, have an irregular number 
of legs, and are either large or small. Cirripeds, 
have shells like mollusks, but have jointed legs as 
well as a body. From the opening of the shell, the 
animal throws out its legs looking like a delicate 
curl, whence the name of the group. Rotifiers, are 
animalcules destitute of limbs, and moved by cilia." 

" What are Animalcules'? " asked May 

"Very tiny animals, indeed. So small as to be 
scarcely visible to the naked eye. Some of them 
however, are as large as a grain of sand." 

" What are Cilia ? " 

" Cilia, are little hairs which edge the wheels of 
Rotifiers ; for, you see, these little animals have 
two horns which they thrust out when hungry, and 
on the edge of each horn is a wheel — but we have 
no more time for this at present. We were talking 
about crabs and lobsters — large Crustaceans. Now, 
to what order of Crtistaceans do crabs and lobsters, 
belong } " 

" To the Decapods, I should think," said Frank. 

" You are right, Now, the Decapods are of four 

491 



CATCHING LOBSTERS. 



species : i st. Brachyural, the short-tailed, the abdo- 
men being small. 2d. Anamoural, with irregular 
abdomen ; the hermit-crab belongs to this class, and 
the common crab to the first mentioned. 3d. Mac- 
roural, the long-tailed species, as the craw-fish and 
shrimps. 4th. Anomobranchiate, having the gills 
external, or else wanting, as the mantis-crab, which 
has a shell only on the fore part of it. The spider- 
crab and the cuttle-fish are of another tribe. The 
body of most of them is cylindrical, and is covered 
with a fleshy sheath instead of a hard shell. The 
cuttle-fish is a mollusk, the same as oysters. Now 
suppose we try our lunch." 



401 




CHAPTER III. 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



One more week at Aunt Jerusha's before the 
stimmer ended, and one more week with Mr. Dumas 
before he left for his tenth voyage on the wide, wide 
sea. 

Aunt Jerusha was making a clam-pie for dinner 
and had sent May and little Rose down cellar to 
bring up the clams. 

" Look, May, some of em dot their mouths open ! " 
exclaimed Rose. 

4dg 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



May took up a stick and thrust it in a clam's 
mouth and it closed, with a click, so firmly that May 
lifted it up by the stick. 

" Suppose that had been your finger," laughed 
May. 

^' I 'dess I'd know better than to 'tick my finger in 
anyfing's mouth. But what did he have his mouth 
open for. May.?" 

" Don't know." 

" Do you fink he wanted to breave better ? " 

" You'll have to ask Cousin Grace. Ah ! here's a 
dead clam." 

" How you know it's dead? " asked Rose. 

" Because it has its mouth wide open and won't 
shut it again." 

" What made the poor clam die } " 

" I don't know I'm sure." 

" I fink he starved to def ? Aunt Jerusha keeps 
'em down here a week most, and never dives 'em a 
fing to eat or drink." 

When they went up-stairs May related the con- 
versation. 

" That is not the clam's mouth, " said Grace. 
"That's his house, and he has to open the folding 

494 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



doors to take in his food, water, and fresh air, and 
that is what made the clam die. He opened his 
door for water, and there was none to flow in." 

"But where is his mouf? Ain't he dot one.f*" 
asked Rose. 

" Yes, he has a mouth, though he has no head." 

" How queer ! " exclaimed May. 

" Now we will separate the valves, or shells, as you 
call them. Here is the little animal ; near the centre 
you see the heart. Here is the mantle with fringed 
edges, and here is the mouth just under a queer 
looking bonnet, made by the uniting of the two 
edges of the mantle near the hinge." 

" What hinge ? " interrupted Frank. 

" The hinge of the doors to be sure. The halves 
of bivalve shells are united by an elastic ligament 
like a hinge. The animal has two powerful muscles 
with which he can keep the door of his house closed 
when he will. If he becomes weak from thirst or 
want of food, the muscles lose their power, and the 
doors fly open in spite of himself. Here at a little 
distance from the edges of the mantle, are four rows 
of gills through which the animal breathes. Clams 
live down in holes in the sand. It is said they can 

495 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



change position by rapidly opening and closing their 
valves, ejecting the water with such force that it 
throws them backward. Now the oyster is generally 
found firmly attached to stones, and sometimes to 
each other, so that they look as if they never 
changed position. Yet some naturalists say they 
can move by the same motion that is peculiar to the 
clam, cockle and escallops. But of all the mollusks 
the oyster seems the most stupid, giving no sign of 
life, save as it opens and closes its valves to take 
in nourishment. Oysters cast their spawn in May, 
which fastens upon any hard substance that is near. 
At fi- st the spawn appears like spots of grease, and 
often adheres to the adult shells, hence the formation 
of oyster banks. I often wondered why poles were 
stuck up in rivers, but have since learned they were 
set up to show fisherman the locality of oysters." 

" What are bivalves / " asked Frank. 

" Why, shells are divided into three classes, uni- 
valves, bivalves, and multivalves. The first has only 
a single valve, and is almost always in a spiral form 
like the snails. All the most beautiful shells belong 
to this class. Bivalves are formed of two parts. All 
the most edible shell-fish, as well as many others, are 

496 




I. TrIDACNA GIGANT^. 'I. TuiDAC^A CUM PoRlTES. 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



bivalves, Multivalves are shells with more than two 
distinct pieces, or many valves." 

" I have a box of shells which I will bring down 
and show you," said Mr. Dumas. 

" Now for a treat," said May, delightedly. 

"See if you can tell to what class this belongs," 
said Mr. Dumas, first exhibiting the shells of a gi- 
gantic clam, or Tridacna gigante, 

" Bivalves,'' they all shouted. 

" Is it a clam ? " asked May. 

" Yes, and I have seen some larger still, so large 
that they would weigh five hundred pounds. The 
Catholic churches sometimes make use of them as 
vessels for holding holy water. This monster clam 
came from the ocean near the tropics." 

" There is one thing about mollusks, " said Frank 
thoughtfully, "they cannot belong to vertebrates 
because they have no back bones." 

" Don't you remember we were talking about 
that, and little Rose said they were mushy } " said 
May. 

" Instead of having their bones inside like most 
other animals, they have them upon the outside, 
wearing them as an armor," said Frank. 

499 



THE BOX OF SHELLS, 



" Are they born with the shells on ? " asked May 

" In some cases they are not ; but as soon as they 
crawl from the egg, the calcarous secretion begins, 
and soon becomes sufficiently hard to protect the 
baby mollusks," said Grace. 

" Is it not strange to think that the same material 
used by man in fashioning our most costly edifices 
is the very same out of which the mollusks have 
constructed their homes ? " said Mr. Dumas. 

" I don't understand," said Frank. 

"Why, carbonic acid combines with lime to make 
carbonate of lime. Carbonate of lime is building- 
stone ; it is alabaster and marble. It is also the 
armor of the Crustacean, the house of the mollusks. 
Here is a mother-of-pearl oyster." 

" O-h-h ! " exclaimed the children. 

" How exquisite ! How lovely ! " exclaimed Grace. 

*' This is very rare," said Mr. Dumas, much pleased 
with their admiration. " It is a mother-of-pearl oys- 
ter with madrepore attached." 

"And are those real pearls within the shell .f*" 
asked May. 

" Yes, real pearls." 

" But the boof ul 'ittle tree growing on the top ; 

500 




Madeepore, with deep sockets. 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



what is it, Mr. Dumas ? " asked Rose, touching it 
ever so daintily with a tiny pink finger. 

" It is coral." 

" Oysters, coral, mother-of-pearl, pearls themselves, 
all in one specimen," said Frank. " We'll not get 
through with all there is to learn about this in a 
hurry." 

" Where does the oyster get his p'itty pearls ? 
Does he swallow them ? " asked Rose. 

" The ancients once thought that oysters swallowed 
drops of dew and that they hardened into pearls ; 
but pearls are a disease in oysters. That is, a grain 
of sand or some foreign substance, gets between the 
mantle of the oyster and the shell, causing such irri- 
tation that the animal covers it with a smooth coat 
of skin, over which it spreads another covering of 
nacrer 

"-What is nacre?'' asked Frank. 

" Tiny scales with a glimmering pearly lustre." 

" Where does he get the little scales? " asked May. 

" Why, they are the lining of the mother-of-pearl 
oyster. Can't you see by looking at this shell } It 
is carbonate of lime in its most beautiful form," said 
Mr. Dumas. 

503 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



" And the pitty 'ittle hard tree," said Rose. " Who 
planted it on the oyster ? What makes it so 
hard ? " 

" It is not a vegetable form, darhng," said Grace. 
" Don't you know Mr. Dumas said it was coral, the 
same kind of material as your coral chain with the 
gold locket." 

" My chain is red, this is white," said Rose. 

" The most common of all the corals is white. But 
there are red corals and black ones, too," said Grace. 

" Isn't it strange," said Frank. " It looks as if it 
belongs to the vegetable kingdom, feels as if it be- 
longed to the mineral kingdom, yet belongs to the 
animal kingdom." 

"It belongs to the radiates too," said May, " be- 
cause the organs within the animal as well as with- 
out, are radiately arranged." 

" Smart little cousins, these of yours," said Mr. 
Dumas, smiling at Grace. 

But little Rose was quite impatient to have her 
last question answered. 

" What was it ? " asked Grace. 

" Is this queer lookin' tree some little animal's 
house, and does he live in those little holes ? " 

504 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



" That's what I used to think," said Frank. " I 
thought lots of httle insects h'ved in all those little 
holes ; and Cousin Grace, I certainly read it some- 
where, that coral is built by insects, that certain little 
insects have built great islands in the middle of the 
ocean, and that Florida was built by coral insects." 

" Erroneous. Coral is but the skeleton or bones 
of a number of little animals called Polyps. All this 
madrepore, this little coral tree on the oyster, was 
once covered over with the skin and nerves of the 
animals. It is only when the Polyps die and their 
flesh decays, that we come upon the coral itself. You 
see the coral is entirely inside of the little Polyps, 
just the same as our bones are inside of our skin 
and muscles. Do you think you understand, puss ? " 
asked Mr. Dumas of Rose. 

" I ain't a puss," she pouted. 

" What's the reason you're not } " laughed Mr. 
Dumas. 

" 'Tause I ain't dot no tail, nor fur, nor eyes, like a 
tat. I belongs to the highest order of the animal 
kingdom ; I'm a 'ittle did," she answered gravely. 

" I beg the little dirl's pardon," said Mr. Dumas 
with mock gravity, taking Rose up in his arms. 

505 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



" Show US more shells, please, Mr. Dumas," said 
May eagerly. 

" Well, here is a cluster." 

" Univalves',' said May. 

" Right," said Mr. Dumas, taking up the largest, 
and blowing through it. 

" Why, it makes music," said Rose, clapping her 
hands. 

" It is the Triton imbricata, and is found from one 
to two feet long. The savages make little holes in 
the apex of the spire, then use it for a martial horn. 
I made these holes to see if I, too, couldn't have a 
horn not made with hands." 

May took the shell, but instead of putting it to her 
lips held it to her ear. 

" It is singular," she said, " that we can hear the 
sea roar in them." 

" That's another exploded theory," said Mr. Du- 
mas. " Such are the strides which science makes. 
The sounds which you hear in the shell are only 
waves of air which press within." 

" Why, how easily it is explained when one under- 
stands it," said May, admiringly. " I never could 
understand how the roar of the sea could be left in 

. 606 




I Tkiton imbkicata. 2. Nautilus pompilius. 3. Helix 
OVATA. 4. Akgoxauta papeeaca. 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



an empty shell. It always seemed to me something 
like the ghost of the animal that once lived in the 
shell." 

" That is, you accepted it as something supernat- 
ural ? " smiled Grace. 

" Yes, I couldn't help it. It was so unnatural," 
said May. 

" The next in size is called the Nautilus pompilitcs ; 
the next, Argonauta papyracear 

" We had something about that class in our last 
lesson," said Grace, " and I am glad the children now 
have the chance to examine the shells." 

" What's this 'ittle black shell's name 1 " asked 
Rose. 

" That is the Helix ovata, and belongs to the Heli- 
idee, or land-snail family. There are four thousand 
living species of land-snails — just think of it ! " said 
Mr. Dumas. " They all feed on vegetable substances, 
consequently being a great pest to the farmer and 
gardener. They are Gasteropodous molluscs. Dur- 
ing the winter they remain torpid by closing the 
mouth of their shells with a mucous substance which 
dries and becomes hard. They like warm, moist 
weather, only coming out at night when it is dry." 

509 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



" O what funny looking shells ! " exclaimed May, 
as three more were exhibited. 

" The largest one is called the Helmet shell be- 
cause of its resemblance to a helmet. It is found 
on the coast of Madagascar. The animal that lives 
in this shell belongs to the genus cassis, Italian 
artists sculpture these shells beautifully in imitation 
of antique cameos. The next in size is called the 
Placuna Sella (or saddle-like), because it looks so 
much like a saddle. The other is called the Spiny 
Rock, from the spines protruding in every direc- 
tion ; its more scientific name being the Murex ten- 
puisina. The famous Tyrean purple dye was made 
from two little shell-fish, the Murex and Buccinum, 
the first named being found in deep water on the 
Phoenician coast, and the latter on the rocks near 
the shore. In fact, the meaning of the Latin word 
Murex is the purple fish. 

" Then, here are some real beauties, the Valuta 
imperialis, and the Trochus agghitinans. The 
tracery and coloring of the first may be well called 
imperial. Solomon in all his glory might have 
envied the delicacy of tracery and the beauty of the 
coloring." 

610 








er/i£X/.ivsrata 



1. Helmet Shell. 2. Spiny Rock. 3. Placuna Sella. 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



" Are there ever any pearls found in the uni- 
valve}'' asked May. 

" Occasionally, in the Strombus gigas, or the foun- 
tain-shell. This is the largest known univalve which 
is edible. It has a thick oval shell, and is called 
fountain shell, and sometimes is used as a garden 
ornament." 

" What have all these shells to do with fins ? " 
asked Frank. 

" That is it," smiled Grace. " Mr. Dumas, per- 
haps you can tell us whether some of these crea- 
tures have fins.f* 

'' There are those belonging to the order Ptero- 
poda, which swim in the sea by means of a pair of 
fins extending out from each side of the head. The 
ClionidcE family belonging to this order are so numer- 
ous in the northern and southern oceans that the 
waters appear swarming with them. They are called 
whale's food, the whales scarcely opening their 
mouths without taking them in by thousands. 
Then there are the Venus slipper and the Glass 
nautilus belonging to the genus Carinaria, At least 
those are the names given to the shells. The little 
animals themselves are furnished with a sort of a 

513 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



fin which they use for a rudder in propelling them- 
selves along. Then there are the Hesteropods, an 
order of mollusks which have the foot compressed 
in the form of a thin, vertical fin. So that you see 
w<e can obtain some fins even out of shells. Now 
I have one more group of shells to show you," 
continued Mr. Dumas. " The first two shells, back 
to back, once contained the Hippopus maculatus, 
or Bear's Paw clam. It is the Pinna nobilis of 
which I wish to speak. Do you see the long 
bunch of silk attached? That is called the 
byssus. It is composed of many silken fibres, at- 
taching the shells to rocks. The byssus of the 
Pinna, or Wing-shell, is famous for its quantity, 
beauty and quality. The filaments are very strong 
and of an unfading reddish-brown color. In Sicily 
these filaments are woven into gloves and a sort of 
stuff like silk. These threads belong to bivalves 
that have no heads." 

" How does it 'g^X there } " asked May. 

" Why, it is merely the fringy prolongation of the 
mantle." 

" Well, what is the mantle ? " asked May. 

" It is the outward fold of the skin. Under this 

514 




LHlPPOPUS MACULATUS. 2.PlNNA NOBILIS. S.FUSUS LONGISSIMUS. 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



mantle the animal can withdraw all his organs. 
Every mollusk has one. It was shown to you in the 
clams that were opened." 

" What's the 'ittle shell's name ? " asked Rose. 

" Thesis longisshnus. It is the same genus oiGas- 
teropoda that the Zetlanders utilize into lamps. It is 
made to hang horizontally by being suspended with 
cords. The cavity is filled up with oil and the wick 
made to pass through the canal." 

" I am a thousand times obliged to you, Mr. Du- 
mas, for so pleasantly as well as instructively enter- 
taining us," said Grace. 

" It's just been the best lesson yet," said May. 

" If Pat had only been here, it would have been 
perfect," said Frank. " How we shall miss you after 
you are gone, Mr. Dumas." 

" And Pat, too, it appears ; for I have concluded 
to take him along for cabin-boy ; so prepare your- 
selves for a wonderful treat by the time we return," 
laughed Mr. Dumas. 

" O, I am so glad," cried Frank. " He did want 
to go to sea so bad." 

" Children, what have we been studying this morn- 
ing ? " asked Grace. 

517 



THE BOX OF SHELLS. 



" Why, about shells and their inhabitants," said 
Frank. 

" Conchology'' said May. 

" That applies only to shells. You have also been 
studying Malacology a treatise on soft-bodied ani- 
mals, the mollusks," said Grace. 



5.18 




CHAPTER IV. 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



' It's tho' hot this mornin' — tan't I dust have a 'ittle 
bowl of bread and milk for my breakfas' and sit out 
on the back door-step ? " pleaded Rose, of Aunt 
Jerusha. 

So her aunt furnished her with a bowl of rich 
creamy milk, and a great slice of bread, and Rose 
sat and enjoyed her breakfast until it was about half 
gone; then she became interested in a large toad 
which came hopping towards her. 

519 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



" Toadie, don't you want some bread and milk ? " 
she asked, in her sweetest tones ; whereupon the 
toad turned about, and began hopping in another 
direction. Rose, still holding her bowl and spoon, 
«iprang up and ran after him. 

But the toad hopped the faster until he came to a 




large tree, where he quickly disappeared in a small 
hollow. Nothing daunted, Rose sat down on one of 
the large roots, and patiently waited for his re-appear- 
ance. In a short time, thinking himself no longer 



520 



HOSE AND THE REPTILES. 



pursued, the toad ventured out ; and no sooner done 
than Rose poured out a spoonful of milk before 
him, and bade him eat ; but the toad seemed to take 
no notice, whatever. 

" I dess toads don't like bread an' milk ! " she said 
at last. " I wonder what toads do eat. I'll do and 
ask Mr. Dumas." And setting her bowl and spoon 
down on the grass, away she ran. 

" I fordot, Mr. Dumas, but I tome to ask you what 
hop-toads like for their breakfas'es ? There's a big 
hop-toad under that tree, and he wouldn't eat one bit 
of bread and milk." 

" He likes bugs, and flies, and worms." 

" Fank you ; and do you know what family he 
belongs to ? tause Tousin Grace asks us about the 
family, every time." 

" They are a family of tailess Batrachians, called 
BufonidcE^ I believe." 

" I knowed it would have an idee to it ; they all 
do. I dess I'll 'member that, then won't I 'stonish 
Tousin Grace ? " and the little girl laughed glee- 
fully. " What was that other hard word you said ? " 

" Batrachian ? " 

" What does it mean } " 

521 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



" Frogs. Havn't you ever seen a frog ? " 

" Never." 

" Come with me down to the bottom of the gar- 
den, and you will see plenty of them if you don't 
make too much noise." 

Rose slipped her hand in his, and they were both 
starting off, when Grace, with Frank and May, ap- 
peared on the scene. 

" O Tousin Grace ! " exclaimed the little one, hold- 
ing very tightly to her new found friend's hand, " Mr. 
Dumas is doing to take me to see the frogs. Don't 
you want to go along? " 

" Of course we do," said Grace. 

" And, O Tousin Grace, there's a booful hop-toad 
under that tree — no, he's not so very pitty, but he 
belongs to the booftdidcE',' said Rose. 

'' Bufontdce,'' yo\x mean," said Mr. Dumas. 

" Suppose I tell you a story of four pet toads 
while we are walking along," said Grace. 

" Oh do ! " cried the children. 

" I became acquainted with my four pet toads in 
a very singular manner. One day we were sitting 
at dinner under an open shed ; that is, there were no 
doors, and one side was a lattice, up which clam- 

522 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



bered honeysuckles and roses in profusion. It was 
a very warm day, and while we sat eating, a large 
toad hopped upon the step near us and seemed to be 
intently regarding us. 

" ' He is after flies for his dinner,' said my father. 

" ' I wonder if he would like some bread with his 
meat,' I said, flinging a large crumb with as sure 
aim as I could. The toad threw out his tongue as 
quick as a flash, and caught the bit of bread. I was 
delighted, and flung him one piece after another 
until he had all he could eat, and hopped away. 

" The next day, at the same hour, the hop-toad 
came and brought another with him. I fed them 
again, when, to my great surprise, the next day, 
while we were at dinner, four great puffy toads de- 
liberately hopped upon the step and sat down in a 
semicircle, winking and blinking as demurely as 
judges upon a bench. To me, matters at that mo- 
ment were intensely interesting. I showered crumbs 
of bread all around. Again and again they came, 
until one day I missed them, and speculated vainly 
as to the cause. Dinner was over, and all the 
dishes washed. I tied on my sun-bonnet to go to 
school, and was just passing out through the shed, 

523 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



when I gave a scream and darted back into the 
house, for there, right where my pets were wont to 
sit, lay an immense black snake, his head raised up, 
looking into the shed. My father went for the hoe 
and soon dispatched the reptile. 

" ' This is the secret of your pets' non-appearance 
to-day, Grace,' said my father, ' for snakes feed 
largely upon toads, and this one, doubtless, thought 
our porch would be a good place to look out for his 
dinner. I hardly think the toads will ever return,' 
and they never did, though it is said they live to a 
great age, and my pets might have remembered me 
the next summer, but I never saw them, to know 
them again." 

" May be the naughty snakes ate 'em all up," sug- 
gested Rose. 

" I do not know." 

" There is something I would like to know about 
toads," said Frank. " I would like to know how it 
is they have been found imbedded in solid rocks and 
in the hearts of trees. I read one time of a toad 
being found i^. solid rock and there it had been 
living in its close quarters for a hundred years, and 
I don't see how it could be." 

524 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



" It does seem miraculous until we understand it," 
said Mr. Dumas. " It takes toads fully four years to 
get their growth. At first they are small. When 
autumn comes, they creep into some hole of a tree, 
or a crevice of rock, never thinking that they will be 
growing even while they lie in a torpid state, so 
when spring comes, many of them find they have 
grown too large to ever get out into the daylight 
again. They are prisoners for life, unless some out- 
side cause brings them to light." 

" But how do they live without anything to eat ? " 
asked Frank. 

" O there are plenty of little flies and other insects 
fond of exploring holes ; so they walk and fly in, 
but never come out again, for the hungry toad is 
ready with his long tongue to grab them up and 
swallow them down." 

" Mr. Dumas, does it ever rain hop-toads ? " asked 
Frank, 

" I have seen the ground all covered with them 
after a hard shower, just for all the world as if it had 
been raining toads," laughed Grace. 

" Do you know how it is ? " asked May. 

Grace nodded. 

525 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



" Toads come out of their holes in wet weather, 
— perhaps because they Hke the rain, perhaps, be- 
cause they are washed out ■ — and they hop forth to 
dry themselves — but here we are at the frog-pond. 
Here they sit and cry Polly-wog, polly-wog.polly'Wog, 
all the day and night long, unless they hear some 




somebody's coming" 



one near, then they give a jump and are out of 
sight." 

" I should think their throats would ache," said 
May. 

526 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



" The same ones do not sing all the time, of 
course," said Grace. " One ceased his song and 
others took it up before he was done. Perhaps you 
can understand something about how numerous 
frogs are, when I tell you that each female frog so,me 
time in the month of March, lays her spawn which 
consists of from six hundred to a thousand eggs." 

" Tell us all about them," cried the children. 

" All the eggs sink to the bottom of the water, 
where they remain until the eggs enlarge, at the 
same time becoming lighter, when they rise to the 
top of the water, and float. 

" In about three weeks the eggs open just enough 
to let the tad-poles' tails through, just a little bit at 
first, but becoming more distinct every day, until in 
about three weeks more there bursts from the eggs 
perfect formed tad-poles. The tad-poles each have 
a sucker under the lower jaw, with which they are 
enabled to cling to substances on which they wish 
to feed. Six weeks after the animal has left the egg, 
he has his hind legs. Two more, and his fore legs 
put in their appearance. Soon after he loses his 
tail, and hops out on land a little frog. His appetite 
is changed, too. He no longer cares for vegetable 

527 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



diet, but darts out his tongue in the same manner as 
does the toad, to lap up worms and insects. 

As soon as the young frogs have entirely quitted 
the tad-pole shape, which is about the first of 
August, they leave the water and emigrate to the 
woods and meadows. They travel by night and rest 
by day. When winter comes they retire down under 
the moss that grows beside ponds and swamps, and 
there they remain frozen up until spring, to sing as 
merrily as ever as soon as the warm sun thaws them 
out." 

" Is the great bull-frog the little frogs' papa ? " 
asked May. 

" O, no ; but a distinct species. They are the most 
aquatic of all the frogs, and generally sit in pairs on 
the margin of ponds, the male crying out something 
like ' More rain, more rain ! ' somewhat like the bel- 
lowing of the bull, hence his name. There are fifty 
or more known species in the frog-tribe, divided into 
three sections, common frogs, tree-frogs and toads." 

At this point the attention of the whole party was 
drawn to the shrill, troubled cries of a bird a short 
distance from where they were seated. 

" Something is the matter," said Mr. Dumas. " A 

528 




A DpvEaded E:n^emy. 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



robin has her nest over there and she is in trouble. 
I will go and see about it." 

" Let us go, too," said Rose, still clinging to his 
hand 

" Ugh ! " exclaimed Frank, " there is a monstrous 
black snake coiled around a branch of the tree close 
to the nest." 

" And mother Birdie is trying to defend her little 
ones valiantly," said Grace. 

" And a sorry time she'd have of it if no one was 
to help her, for already the fiery eyes of the snake 
are fastened full upon her, and in spite of her terrific 
cries she will soon become so beside herself as to fly 
right into the snake's jaws," Mr. Dumas said, as 
he seized a large, heavy stick. 

May and Rose fled up the hill and took refuge in 
the summer-house, where she could watch the pro- 
ceedings through a window, but Grace and Frank 
remained until the snake was beaten from the tree, 
and dropped, a lifeless mass, upon the ground. 

" Dear little birdies," said Rose, rushing to the 
scene as soon as the danger was over. " I dess the 
little wobins will love you now, Mr. Dumas. Lift 
me up high so I tan see the tunnin' 'ittle fings." 

531 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



" There is a skeleton of a snake under the bushes 
yonder. I think it must be one the hired man killed 
two or three days ago." 

'' He's all back bone and ribs," said May. 

" I have found his skin ! " exclaimed Frank, lifting 
- something up on a stick." 

" Not this one's, I guess. But snakes do change 
their skins. I have watched them creep right out, 
frequently, and it is quite an interesting feat," said 
Mr. Dumas. 

" That reminds me I forgot to tell the children 
that the frog tribe change their skins every eight or 
ten days during the whole summer, " said Grace. 

" The bite of the black snake is not venomous ? " 
asked Grace. 

" No, the venomous species bear the general name 
of vzpus from the word vivipares. All the vipers 
bring forth their young alive, the eggs being hatched 
within them before they are laid. The word vivi- 
pares comes from vivus, alive, and pario to bring 
forth. There are about twenty species of vipers. 
Of the snake tribe in general there are nearly two 
hundred species. You can tell the venomous ones 
by their large, flat heads, sometimes heart-shaped, 

532 




BOA-CON^STEICTOR AND DeEE. 



i 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



and by their short bodies. The harmless kind have 
small heads and longer bodies." 

" Mr. Dumas, have you ever seen a viper swallow 
her little ones ? " asked Frank. 

" I once saw a rattlesnake open her mouth and 
take in her half dozen little ones at one swallow, 
when she thought they were threatened with dan- 
ger; and as soon as it was over she opened her 
mouth and discharged them." 

" How funny ! " laughed May. 

" Is the rattlesnake anything like the viper ? " 
asked Grace. 

" It is a much larger snake, but there are many 
things similar. They both belong to that order of 
Ophidians that are venomous, and both are viviper- 
ous, that is, produce their young alive. The viper 
in particular, belongs wholly to the old world, while 
the rattlesnake is wholly American. But the most 
formidable looking of all the serpents, is the great 
boa-constrictor, and yet it is not venomous. I have 
seen it let itself down from a tree, coil itself around 
and around an unfortunate deer, crushing it to death 
almost instantly. 

" It is sometimes forty feet long, and as thick in 

535 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



proportion, and some travellers affirm that they 
have found the body of a-stag in the boa's gullet, all 
but the horns which were sticking out of his mouth 
because he was not able to swallow them." 

The little girls shuddered, and crept closer to 
Grace. 

" You know," continued Mr. Dumas, " that ser- 
pents have no grinding teeth. They can pierce and 
hold with their teeth, but cannot masticate, hence 
all the serpents swallow their prey whole." 

" I do not think I understand quite so clearly as 
I would like, how the venomous serpents use their 
fangs," said Grace. 

" They have two pointed teeth pierced with a 
small canal, through which the poison forces itself 
from glands situated under the eyes. The fangs are 
hidden in a fold of gum when the reptile does not 
wish to put them to use. The rattlesnake belongs 
to the family CortalidcB, genus Cortalus. The vipers 
belong to the family ViperidcE, containing several 
genuses." 

" Mr. Dumas, have water snakes fins I " asked 
May. " I never saw a water snake, but I have read 
about them." 

636 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



" No, their tails are flattened sideways, so that it 
can answer the purpose of fins." 

" Oh, see that queer thing yonder ! " exclaimed 
Rose, excitedly. " A snake wiv a big pie-dis' turned 
over on his back." 

" That is a land tortoise ; " and stooping, Mr. 
Dumas touched it, when immediately it drew in all 
its feet and its long neck within its shell. 




A LAND TORTOISE, 



Rose opened wide her eyes in the greatest 
astonishment. 

" Where have it gone } " she asked, as Mr. Dumas 
picked it up and turned it over and over. 

" Into his nice, cosy home. Don't you wish you 
could carry your house around with you on your 

537 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



back, SO that when dangers threatened, all you 
would have to do would be to creep in right quick, 
eh, Rosie ? " and Mr. Dumas pinched the Httle girl's 
cheek ; then turning to Grace, he continued : 

" This tortoise is quite an old fellow. Here are 
three or four sets of initials accompanied with dates. 
Here is one as far back as 1 789." 

" Is it possible ? " said Grace, examining it closely, 
while the children were all astonished to see the 
letters and figures on the breast-plate of the tortoise. 

" Who cut all those pretty marks on his back ? " 
asked May. 

" I dess Dod did that," remarked Rose, soberly. 

" Bless the child ! " said Grace. " Of course He 
did. And that is why some people call him the 
geometric turtle. Those marks on his back are like 
certain symbols in geometry." 

" Aren't turtles good to eat ? " asked Frank. 

" Not this kind. The green turtle is the best 
edible one, and it is seldom found on shore except 
in the month of April, when it crawls upon land to 
deposit its eggs. They dig holes in the sand with 
their fore paws, just above high- water mark, about 
two feet deep, in which they let fall sometimes as 

538 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



many as a hundred eggs. Then they cover them 
up with just enough sand to hide them from sight, 
and just enough to admit of them being hatched 
out in the required time. The eggs are round, each 
measuring two or three inches in circumference, 
The yolk can be cooked just the same as a hen's 
egg, and makes just as delicious food. At the end 
of twenty days or more, the little turtles, just 




hatched, not more than three inches long, creep out 
of the sand. In seven or eight days they become 
strong enough to seek their natural element, the 
water. There they are more secure, and find their 
proper food which consists of marine plants, and 
occasionally shell-fish. Their legs are very much 
like fins." 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



" Are the words tortoise and turtle applied to the 
same species ? " asked Grace. 

" Tortoises more properly belong to land. The 
word turtle is more properly applied to the marine 
Chelonian reptiles. The turtles are divided into 
families, ChelonioidcE and SphargididcE. Logger- 




FISHING ON THE MADEIRA. 



heads belong to the first named family. Tortoises 
belong to the family Testudinidcs. The strangest 
looking turtle I ever saw was the matamata. He is 
found in South America, and has the habit of lying 
in the grass with his ugly looking head thrust out, 

540 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



ready to pounce upon small fish and reptiles as they 
pass him. The most valuable of all the turtles are 
the imbricated, valuable because of their thick, semi- 
transparent shells, out of which are manufactured 
the beautiful tortoise-shell combs, which ladies 
prize so highly. 

" They have a strange way of catching turtles on 
the Madeira, with a sort of bow and arrow. Not by 
shooting them, however. The iron arrow point has 
a long string attached to it, which is wound about 
the shaft. The thread unrolls when the animal 
dives with the arrow sticking in him, and the swim- 
ming shaft guides the fishermen to the spot, when 
the animal is finished with a harpoon. 

" Ugh ! there is a lizard," exclaimed Grace. " I 
never could quite conquer my prejudices against a 
lizard, though I know they are perfectly harmless, 
being timid and gentle in their habits." 

" Where do they live ? " asked May. 

" They live in holes in sand, and by pairs. They 
lay between five and seven eggs which they leave to 
be hatched by the warmth of the air. Both the 
male and female change their skins about twice a 
year. Like other oviperous quadrupeds, the lizard 

541 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



can live a long time without food. It belongs to the 
order Saura and to the family Lacertidae, There is 
a lizard called the Flying Dragon because he has 
wings, though he cannot fly one mite with them. 
Then there is the chameleon noted for the several 




shades of its skin, saxon green, deep green, blue 
and yellow. Then there is the salamander, noted for 
its endurance of heat, the frilled lizard, the newt 
and others. Then there are the crocodiles and 
alligators." 

542 




Monkeys ^.^d Alligatoks. 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



" What s the difference between a crocodile and 
an alligator?" asked Frank. 

" Crocodiles and alligators both belong to the 
family Crocodilidae, the crocodiles being found in the 
Nile and Ganges. The alligator belongs to America, 
and is sometimes called the American crocodile. 
The crocodile is much the largest of all the lizard 
tribe. He measures from eighteen to thirty feet, 
and is covered with thick scales, impenetrable to pistol 
or musket shot. Can't you tell them something else 
about the crocodile, Mr. Dumas } " 

"I suppose the reason that people naturally shrink 
from the lizard is because he looks so much like 
the crocodile," remarked Frank. 

" I will tell the children a story," smiled Mr. 
Dumas. And then he told them of a great number 
of crocodiles coming up out of the water to attack 
hundreds of monkeys who had come down to the 
shore on an exploring tour, and how the monkeys 
tumbled pell-mell over each other in their frantic 
endeavors to ascend a tree, and that the tree just 
groaned under its animal weight, while the alligators 
stood around looking hungrily on, the monkeys all 
chattering at once in the meantime." 

545 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES, 



" Now for a summary of what we have learned to- 
day," said Grace, as soon as the children's merriment 
had subsided. 

Frank and May both began: 

" We have been talking about reptiles, a class of 
cold-blooded, vertebrated animals, divided into three 
orders, Chelonia or turtles ; Saurians, or lizards ; 
Ophidians, or serpents. They are all oviperous, 
though some few hatch their eggs within, before 
being laid. There are two families of turtles, Chelon- 
ioidce and Sphai^gididce. The lizard family is called 
Lacertidce, Viperidce, is a class of venomous ser- 
pents. The rattlesnake belongs to the family Croat- 
idee; black snakes belong to the family Co lu brides ; 
boa constrictors to the Boidce family. Toads and 
frogs are a class of Batrachians, frogs belonging to 
the RandcE, and toads to the Bufonidcsr 



94a 



.. -^^^ 




CHAPTER V. 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



Where was Rose? Everybody was hunting for 
her all over the house, in the garden, in the orchard. 
Uncle John even looked over into the pig-pen, to be 
sure she hadn't been devoured alive ; Aunt Jerusha 
looked down the well ; Jane, the kitchen girl, 
searched up garret and down cellar, while Grace 
and May and Frank ran about shouting, " Rose ! 
Rose ! " 

At last a voice answered : 

" Here I am. What do you want ? " 

547 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



And running around to the side of the house 
from whence the sound came, they beheld Httle Rose 
looking calmly out of an open window in the second 
story. 

" What are you doing there ? " asked Grace. 

" In Mr. Dumas's room lookin' at his pretty 
fings," she answered innocently, turning away from 
the window. 

Mr. Dumas turned red to the roots of his hair, 
and fumbled hastily in his pocket ; but not succeed- 
ing in finding what he wished, he rushed into the 
house, and on up stairs, followed by Grace and the 
two children. 

" Do tome in, Tousin Grace," said Rose, running 
to meet them. Mr. Dumas has dot lots of funny 
fings." 

" It was very, very naughty in you, indeed, to 
go anywhere you were not invited," said Grace, 
reprovingly. 

" Who tied your hands ? " asked Frank, for there 
the little girl was walking about from one object of 
interest to another, with her hands tied before her. 

" I did," said Rose, dropping her head. " I fought 
I touldn't touch anyfing if I tied my hands." 

548 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



" Bless the child ! " exclaimed Mr. Dumas, snatch- 
ing her up in his arms and kissing her. " If I had 
known you was such a little lady, you might have 
seen into my room long ago." 

" But what made you think of such a thing ? " 
asked Grace. 

" Tause Mr. Dumas dot our chains and buttons 
out of his room, and all his pitty shells, so I fought 
he must have some more fings in here. Mr. Dumas 
don't tare a bit, do you ? " she asked, coaxingly, 
throwing an arm around his neck. 

" Not now, since you didn't get hurt ; but if you 
had meddled too much with a glass case over yon- 
der, you might have been poisoned to death." 

" Where ? " asked Grace, with white lips. 

" It is only a strange, beautiful plant. I handle it 
with buckskin gloves; but don't be alarmed, Miss 
Montague, I shall destroy it immediately. 

" What's dose stuffed fings over yonder ? "asked 
Rose, pointing her finger in the direction. 

" One is a narwhal and the other is a seal." 

" Won't you tell us about 'em ? " pleaded 
Rose. 

" Yes ; you've been such a good girl that you shall 

549 



IN MR. DUMAS' ROOM. 



know all about them. Shall I tell you about the 
seal, first ? " 

" That dreat brown fing, what ain't dot no hind 
legs hardly, and what's dot a head like a pussy tat, 
only there's no ears ? " 

" Yes, that is a seal, and a wonderful animal he is. 
Indeed, the seals seem endowed with so much intel- 
ligence, and act in some respects so much like 
human beings, that the Icelanders entertain a queer 
superstition for them. They believe they more 
nearly resemble the human species than any other 
creature, and think they are the offspring of 
Pharaoh and his host, who were turned into seals 
while passing through the Red Sea.'* 

" How odd ! " exclaimed May. 

" Perhaps the most intelligent of all the seals is 
the Ursine seal. The males are some eight feet 
long, but the females are much smaller. Their 
bodies are thick up towards the head, but decrease 
toward the tail. The fore legs are two feet long, 
and with the feet, look like turtles' fins. The hind 
legs are quite short, and the five toes webbed. 
Their general color is black when young, but they 
become tipped with gray as they grow old. The 

550 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



color of the female is ash. The Ursine seals live in 
large families, each male possessing from ten to 
fifty females. The males are very fond of their 
offspring, and if a female accidentally drops one, or 
injures it in any way, he falls upon her and whips 
her terribly, until he leaves her for dead. If one of 
the young ones are carried away, or in any way in- 




THE SEAL. 



jured fatally, the males show every mark of exces- 
sive grief, weeping tears of sorrow." 

" Poor, poor seal ! " exclaimed Rose, pityingly. 

" Sometimes the males fight terribly, and which 

653 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



ever one is whipped, loses all his females ; for, seem- 
ing to have contempt for the weaker one, they all 
go over to the male who is victorious. 

•' Sometimes the little baby seals fight, and then 
the male is always the most pleased with the little 
one that whips. He pats him on the head, and 
licks him with his tongue, as if he were kissing him. 
The Ursine seal seldom has more than one little 
one at a time, which it nurses about three months ; 
but the common seal has two or three, which are 
kept in cavities of ice, the male making a hole 
through the ice down to the water, which he does 
by blowing his breath upon the ice until it melts, 
thus forming an opening. When the mamma seals 
come up out of the water, they bleat like sheep for 
their little ones, and single out their own darlings 
from among a hundred of others. 

" Seals are taken in large quantities for their 
skins and oil ; indeed, they constitute the universal 
resource for the Greenlanders. The flesh forms 
their principal food ; the fat furnishes them with oil 
to give light through the long, dark nights, to make 
their fires, and in which they can cook their food. 
The skins of the entrails are manufactured into 

554 




The Otaey. 



/ 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



material for their shirts, and curtains for their tents. 
They even use this material for their windows. 
From the bones they made all their working imple- 
ments, until the foreign introduction of iron. The 
women sew with the fibres of the sinews, which is 
much stronger than thread, and make a delicious 
soup from the animals' blood. The outside skins of 
the animals make warm clothing, coverings for beds, 
houses, and boats, as well as thongs and straps for 
a great many purposes. The seals are found in all 
northern latitudes, and some few in the temperate 
regions. They are easily tamed, and show the 
warmest attachment for their masters. 

A gentleman once captured a young seal, and 
took it home with him. He kept it but a few days 
when he began to fear that it was going to consume 
more provision than he felt able to provide for it, so 
he determined to take it back to its home and throw 
it in the water. For this purpose, two or three men 
were engaged, and it was taken out upon the water 
in a boat and then cast overboard, but it could swim 
much faster than the men could row, and soon over- 
took them, clinging to the side of the boat. Noth- 
ing could induce the seal to let go his hold until his 

557 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



fore feet were actually so hacked that he was obliged 
to give up, staining the water with blood, as he fell. 
The owner of the seal felt badly all the night about 
it, and next morning, when he heard the poor seal 
whining at the kitchen door to get in, he could not 
possibly resist any longer, but tenderly took him in 
to the fire. The creature showed every manifesta- 
tion of delight at his restoration, by licking his mas- 
ter's hand, wagging his tail and regarding him with 
the same tender light in his great, brown eyes that 
one often notices as so characteristic of the dog. 
Then he stretched himself out before the fire per- 
fectly contented and happy." 

There were tears in May's eyes, and Rose said : 

" If I had a little seal I wouldn't make him do 
back into the water. I'd lobe him to death." 

" I think he'd be as jolly as a dog," said Frank. 

" When they are old, their voice resembles the 
barking of a dog, but that of the little ones sounds 
more like the mewing of a kitten. There are sev- 
eral species of seals. There is one which measures 
from fifteen to twenty feet in length, the male being 
distinguished from the female in possessing a large 
snout, projecting five or six inches beyond the ex- 

558 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



tremity of the upper jaw. The seal inflates this 
snout when he is angry, giving it the appearance of 
an arched nose. This species is called the bottle 
seal. Then there is the leonine seal, so called be- 
cause his neck is covered with long, waving hair, 
very much like the mane of the lion. A male of 
this species often weighs as much as sixteen hundred 
pounds. Seals belong to the family Phocidae from 
the Latin word Phoca, seal." 

" It took a large case for that narwhal, didn't it } " 
said Frank, addressing Mr. Dumas. 

" Yes ; it was rather a troublesome specimen, on 
account of its bulk ; yet this is quite a young one. 
A full grown male will measure from twenty to thirty 
feet, without his tusk, and that is from six to ten feet 
long." 

" What pretty skin the narwhal has, all spotted 
wiv' black," said Rose, admiringly. 

" Yes ; and isn't his horn pretty 1 It looks like a 
piece of white ivory, plaited," said May. 

" That is all the weapon the poor narwhal has, and 
he never uses it save in a matter of self-defence. He 
is one of the most peaceable inhabitants of the 
ocean." 

559 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



** Where did this one come from ? " asked Frank. 

" From the northern ocean. The Greenlanders 
capture them for their flesh, which they eat ; for their 
oil and teeth as an article of traffic, and for the long 
tusk, which, as ivory, is much more valuable than 
the tusks of elephants, being much harder and capa- 
ble of higher polish. 

" The Greenlander has a funny sort of a boat with 
a round hole in the upper part of it. They get into 
this hole, leaving only the upper part of their body 
exposed, then with a long spear attached to a great 
long spool of stout twine, they thrust it forward into 
the narwhal The wounded creature at once dives 
down into the depths of the ocean, but returns in a 
short time to the surface of the water when it is 
soon dispatched with a lance." 

"Why do whales come up to the surface of the 
water, when there are so many dangers around ? " 
asked Frank. 

" Because they have to, for they do not breathe like 
(ish, but like you and me, through a pair of lungs. 
You learned that a little fish breathes through its 
gills, that it keeps continually opening and shutting 
its mouth, the water it takes in, forcing its way 

560 




The Perils of a Fishing Vuyag; 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



through the gills. But the whale tribe cannot live 
in the water all the time, no more than can you and 
I. When these animals are undisturbed they gen- 
erally remain on the surface of the water long 
enough to breathe eight or nine times, and then go 
down under water again for about five or ten min- 
utes, or, if feeding, for fifteen or twenty." 

" Have the whales any teeth ? " asked Frank. 

" No ; they have no teeth in either jaw ; the upper 
jaw being supplied with a liorny lamincs called 
whalebone." 

" Is that where whalebone, comes from ? " asked 
May. " I never think when mamma is putting 
whalebone in my dresses, that they once served the 
great whale for teeth. I don't see how he can eat 
with such teeth." 

" When feeding, he swims with great velocity 
down below the surface, with his mouth opened just 
as wide as he can get it. A stream of water, filled 
with immense quantities of cuttle-fish, sea-blubber 
and shrimps, is continually flowing into his great 
mouth. The water escapes through his blow-holes, 
but the food is entangled, the whalebone teeth form- 
ing a sort of strainer or sifter. 

563 



IN MR. DUMAS* ROOM. 



" The whale tribe have but one little one at a 
time, and when nursing it, the mother whale throws 
herself over on one side on the surface of the water. 
She is very careful of this one baby of hers, carry- 
ing it with her wherever she goes, and when hardest 
pursued, supports it between her fins. Even if 
wounded she keeps her hold of it, and takes it with 
her to the bottom, though rising with it sooner than 
she would, so that it can breathe. While nursing, 
the little whales are very fat, and are called by the 
sailors ' short-heads.' At two years old they are 
called ' stunts,' because they do not thrive very well 
for awhile after leaving the mother. After they are 
two years old they are called ' skull-fish.' " 

" Won't you tell us more about the whales' blow- 
holes ? " asked Frank. 

" There is a tubular opening on the top of his 
head. This spiracle contains double outlets, the 
same as man's nostrils. It is through his nose that 
the whale spouts water and vapor to the height of 
several yards, making a very loud noise indeed ; but 
this is all the noise he can make, since he has no 
voice. The whales are shy and timid animals, and 
never think of showing their great strength save 

564 




^^^^Sr}S^;^"r'T'' 



The Greenland Whale. 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



when their lives are in clanger. Then it is the nar- 
whal uses his long, white ivory tusk. He plunges 
it into the keels and bottom of vessels, where they 
have sometimes been found broken short off. Whales 
abound in the seas about Spitzbergen and Green- 




,AT REST, 

land, though they are found to some extent on the 
shores of countries nearer the torrid zone." 

" Have you ever been whale fishing, Mr. Dumas ? " 

" Yes ; I went some two or three voyages, the last 

time as first mate, and that was when I brought back 

with me this narwhal. The oil produced from a 

567 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



single large whale will bring about five thousand 
dollars, and the whalebone alone often brings from 
one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars, so that 
you see whale fishing must be very profitable, a full 
ship of about three hundred tons burden, making 
from twenty to thirty thousand dollars from one 
voyage." 

" Where do they get the blubber which makes the 
oil } " asked Frank. 

" It lies directly under the skin and is from eight 
to twelve inches thick, being a beautiful yellow color 
when the animal is in health. So oily is this sub- 
stace that one hundred barrels of blubber will pro- 
duce nearly ninety-six barrels of oil. The fishing 
season begins in May, but must end by the last of 
August, to avoid the coming ice. Whales belong to 
the BalcEnidce family, BalcEuidcB coming from the 
word baleen, which means plates of whalebone. 
The order to which they belong is Cetacea, from the 
latin word cete, a whale." 

" Mr. Dumas, what's the name of that slippery 
looking fish, in that very large aquarium ? " 

" That is called the angler, or fishing frog, and 
came out of the Mediterranean Sea. It belongs to 

568 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



the Lophidc? family. The pecuHar formation of its 
fins makes it able to creep a considerable distance 
on land. The reason it is called the angler, or fish- 
ing frog, is because of the way it has of catching 




THE F]G} 



FROG. 



fish. It crouches close to the bottom of the sea, 
and by digging its pectoral fins down into the sand 
and mud attracts the attention of small fishes, who 
mistake the two or three long, horny threads on the 



569 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



head of the angler for worms, and approach to snap 
them up, when suddenly they find themselves 
snapped up. It is called a fishing frog, because it is 
able to leap up like a frog, when it catches its prey. 
It is from three to six feet long, and has a very 
large head and mouth, as you can see from this 
specimen. Its voracity is remarkable. Large sea 
birds, as gulls, are frequently found whole in the 
angler's stomach." 

" Do tell us about that beautiful red fish with such 
a funny tail," said May. 

" That is a very rare fish, as well as a beautiful 
one. It is called the Japanese kingiyo, but I was 
unable to learn much more about it, but think it 
closely allied to the gold fish." 

" It's dot on a wed jacket, and a long, white petti- 
coat wiv' fringes all around," said Rose, 

" It looks so in the water, really," said May, turn- 
ing to Grace. 

" I think it does, some ; and so, Mr. Dumas, you 
think this odd-looking kingiyo allied to the gold 
fish?" 

" It is mere speculation on my part, simply be- 
cause I do not know where else to class him, I sup- 

570 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM, 



pose ; but you know when the gold fish was brought 
from China to England, about two hundred years 
ago, it was looked upon as a great curiosity. Since, 
it has been introduced to the United States throuo-h 
England, and now is found almost everywhere, still 




THE KINGIYO. 



a thing of beauty, but rare no longer. I think the 
Japanese kingiyo a kind of gold fish, which has not 
as yet become generally known." 

" And how is it with this curious lookins; fellow ? " 
asked Grace, pointing out a large glass globe. 

" That is another Japanese fish. The natives 



571 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES. 



make a great pet of it, and are never tired of wit- 
nessing the curious way in which the fish gets his 
dinner." 

" How? how? " inquired the children. 

" Do you not see what a funny mouth he has ? " 

" Yes, yes," assented the children. 

" Now watch me place a fly on one of these leaves 
that projects just above the surface of water in the 
globe. The fly is dead, but the little fish will not 
know the difference. Now stand back and watch 
him shoot." 

" Shoot ! Is he a shootin' fish ? " asked Rose, as 
she tiptoed to the edge of the table, and peeped 
cautiously into the globe. 

" You will see," said Mr. Dumas ; and soon they 
saw the fish swimming under the water. He had 
noticed the fly, and still remaining under water, 
though perfectly motionless, he shot a little stream 
of water directly upon the fly ; but, as it was fas- 
tened with a pin, he could not succeed in bringing 
it down to the surface of the water. 

" What does he do that for ? " asked Rose. 

" To wash the little fly down to the surface of the 
water, so that he may eat it for his dinner," laughed 

572 



ROSE AND THE REPTILES, 



Mr. Dumas. " His snout is very much like a 
boy's blow gun." 

" I never heard of anything so queer as that," said 
Frank. 

" There are a great many queer things in this 
world of ours. The learned name for this queer 
fish is the beaked ChcEtodo7i, He belongs to the fam- 
ily Chcetodince. See the bands crossing and recross- 
ing him, while' his scales are very stout. The 
species are very numerous, and are held in high 
esteem for food." 

" What are all vose fings in the glass jars } " asked 
Rose. 

" If you will come in again to-morrow, I will tell 
you all about them." 

" Now let us see what we have learned to-day," 
said Grace. 

" I know, I know," said little Rose, eagerly, rais- 
ing her right hand, and shaking it violently ; for she 
had visited school once with her sister May, and had 
particularly noticed how the little girls strove to 
gain the attention of their teacher. 

" Well," smiled Grace, " let us hear." 

" Whales and seals are vertebrates 'tause they've 

573 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



dot back bones, and they ain't fish if they do live in 
the water. They're mammals, 'tause they nurse 
their own babies." 

" Very good, for little Rose. Now, Frank, will 
you show any other reasons why whales and seals 
are not fish ? " said Grace. 

" Fish are cold-blooded animals, whales have 
warm red blood, and breathe like quadrupeds by 
means of real lungs. They have movable eyelids, 
and fair bones like quadrupeds. Seals belong, as 
Linuceus has classed them, to the same order as do 
cats and dogs, having six front teeth in each jaw, 
and one canine tooth in both jaws on each side." 

"Very good, and now. May, suppose you tell us 
in what way whales and seals are like fish, though 
they do not belong to that kingdom ? " said Mr. 
Dumas. 

" Why, in having fins, and being inhabitants of 
the water," answered May. 

" Do you know how many fins the cetaceans or 
whales have?" 

" Only two, the pretoral fins, besides their tails. 
They have no posterior feet or fins." 

" How is it with thoca, or the seals ? " 

674 



IN MR. DUMAS ROOM. 



" They have four complete members, the hind ones 
forming with the tail a broad, stout caudal fin. The 
fore paws, though encased in skin, have nails like 
quadrupeds, enabling seals to crawl or tumble about 
— some species being able to travel upon land better 
than others." 

" Very good," said Grace. " Come now, children ; 
it is time to go down-stairs." 

" I shall look for you all, to-morrow," said Mr. 
Dumas, bowing them out. 



V76 




CHAPTER VI. 

WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 

The next day found Grace and the children back 
in Mr. Dumas' room, and they noticed that it had 
been swept and garnished for the occasion. The 
great glass jars at once attracted the children's 
attention. 

" O, see that beautiful little parasol with fringe all 
around it," said May. 

" That's a living animal," said Mr. Dumas. 

" Is it possible ! " exclaimed the children. 

116 




Medusa or Jelly Fish, 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



" Yes, in the center, part of the concave side of 
this disc, is the stomach. The mouth opens down- 
wards, and is surrounded by what looks like a cloud 
of lace. It is the Medusce or jelly-fish. In their 
stomachs are often found small fishes, Crustacea and 
moUusks. Their tentacula possesses considerable 
muscular power, capable of drawing into its mouth 
almost everything that comes in its way. They be- 
long to the branch Radiata and to the class Acale- 
phcB, This class embraces a large number of ani- 
mals, and if there is anything mysterious in nature 
it is this class of creatures. They can move, feel, 
take nourishment, sting if troubled, are phosphores- 
cent and reproductive ; yet no one understands just 
how it is. They are one of the mysteries of crea- 
tion. If I were to take this medusce out of the jar 
and set it aside for awhile, though now it weighs 
some four or five pounds. I would find that there 
was nothing left of it but a filmy skin, a mere cob- 
web, while the substance which drained away from 
it would appear to be nothing more than sea-water. 
Can anything be more wonderful ? Here is a crea- 
ture full of life and activity, weighing five pounds 
yet I take it out of the water and lo ! it is not, for 

579 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS, 



nothing remains but cob-web and water. The Acale- 
phcE have been divided into four families, the Tul- 
mograda, the Cilograda, the Cirrhigrada and the 
Physograda. These famihes exhibit a great variety 
of structure and form. Here is one in this jar that 
has the form of hair, or tangled fringe. Agassiz 
once came across a jelly-fish in this form, and on 
measuring it, found that its hair or tentacles, as they 
are called, measured one hundred and twelve feet 
long, the body being seven feet in diameter. Up 
and down these tentacles are cells, each having a 
fine cord coiled up which the animal can spring at 
will, and it would not be a very pleasant thing to 
get entangled in those thread-like tentacles ; yet out 
of water it would dry away to nothing but film. 
This queer, fringy-looking fish has for its mamma a 
little, wee thing called Hydroid, never more than 
half an inch in height." 

" Here's somefing looks like a fan," said Rose. 

" That is what is called a sea-urchin. The center 
is his body and the open work his tentacles. Upon 
four of these tentacles are tiny forks. When there 
is any food this creature doesn't want, he passes it 
down a tentacle to one of these forks. The fork 

580 



I 



i 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



closes upon it as quickly as though it were guided 
by fingers, then passes it on to another fork, until 
the last one drops it into the water." 

" Here's a dreat bid bush in this jar, and it's dot 
dooseberries on it, I dess," called Rose. 

" It is a net-fish, and what looks like branches and 
berries are the tentacles of the fish, stretching up 




and branching out here and there, and coiled up into 
little round coils. Sometimes this fish closes up, 
and takes the form of a cosy, latticed house. Little 
fish and shrimps never guess that it is a net to catch 
them, so run right into the nice-looking place with- 
out a thought of danger. The net-fish has eighty, 
nine hundred and twenty links ; just think of 
that!" 

583 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



" O, here's some of the prettiest little breast-pins 
eber was," cried out Rose. 

" They are the most common of all the jelly-fishes, 
and are called Lucernaria. This is in the shape of 
a star, each point seeming set with brilliants, only all 
is not gold that sparkles, so these little glittering 




points are not pearls or diamonds, but tentacles and 
auricles to eat with, and to take hold by. They are 
generally found fast to sea-weeds along shore, and 
strange as it may appear, this beautiful star has the 
power of contracting itself up until it looks just 
like a half-blown morning-glory." 

" O, here's somefing looks like a scarf," cried out 

584 



1 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



Rose, again, '' see how shiny it is, and all the woolen 
stuff at the edges looks lovely, don't it, May ? " 

" It is a big medusa, and that woolen stuff, as 
Rose calls it, is its cilia by which it rows itself along 
in the water. It is called the ' Girdle of Venus.' '' 




" And this feathery-looking leaf — what is this ? " 
asked May. 

" It's all bue," said Rose. 

" Another jelly-fish. The little fronds on each 
side of the broad stem are alive, in each of them a 
cell inhabited by a polypus." 

587 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS, 



'' What is a polypus? " asked May. 

" I dess it's somefing like a polly parrot," said Rose 
gravely. 

" Poly means many, the word meaning with many 
feet or roots. This feathery leaf lives with its stem 
down in the sea-mud. Like many other of the jelly 
fishes, it was long thought a vegetable. It is called 
the ' sea-pen.' I suppose because it resembles a quill- 
pen and is found in the sea." 

" Here's somefing has dot two long fevers for a 
tail, but there ain't no head or foots," said Rose. 

" That is a Plererobrachia, a genus of Acaleplus 
belonging to the order of Ctenophorce or Beroid^ 
jelly-fishes. They always have a round body, and 
the feather-edges are the creature's tentacles with 
which he gathers up his food and with which he pro- 
pels himself along in the water. This, in the next 
jar, belongs to the same order, but is of the genus 
Idyia, It looks like an inverted pouch. It is all 
stomach, and as soon as a fish enters this up-side 
down pouch, the mouth contracts, and there the fish 
is fast." 

" Here's a boota," said Rose. 

" In a bouquet holder," added May. 

588 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS, 



" The holder is a Hobocodon hydroid, and is the 
mother of the little flowers which she holds. The 
flowers are young medusc?. They stay there until 
strong enough to leave the hydroid, then detach 
themselves and float off upon the sea to ' paddle 
their own canoes.' There are some very strange 




facts about these hydroids. Portions of them may 
be broken off, as, sometimes, the hydroid splits of 
its own accord, when each portion or division be- 
comes an independent animal, growing to the same 
size as the original. For a long time these hydroids 
were called animal plants." 

" What is this queer-looking bunch } " asked 
Frank. 

" That's another hydra. A floating hydroid. 

589 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



There are lots of little baby jelly-fish there, fastened 
to their mother. Soon they will become able to 
take care of themselves, and will drop off into the 
sea." 

" I should like to make drawings of these jelly- 
fish, to take home and show mamma," said 
Frank. 

"So you can, if you wish," said Mr. Dumas. 
" I know that she will be much interested. Still 
another class of radiata are the Eckinodermaia^ 




A BOUQUET. 



or Echinoderms. They are the strongest and the 
most perfectly formed of all the radiata. They do 
not swim so easily and gracefully as the medusa, but 
creep along the sand, or are found sticking fast to 



590 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



rocks by means of their many tentacles. One of 
the most curious of this class is the sea-hedgehog, 
or the sea-chestnut, called the first because it can 
contract itself in a round, prickly ball, like the 
hedgehog, and the last because in this condition it 




THE SEA-HEDGEHOG. 



looks very much like the prickly burr of a chestnut. 
The round body is clad in a solid cuirass, out of 
which project numbers of stiff, brittle spines. There 
are also little holes all over the cuirass, through 



)91 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



which the animal can stick his many sensitive little 
feet at his pleasure. By observing closely, you will 
see that one of the openings is larger than the 
others. This is the creature's mouth, and among the 
species that are carniverous, you will observe five 
tiny teeth. These animals are often found snugly 
encased in holes in the rocks ; and another one of 
the mysteries is,, how do they get there ? 

" Some naturalists presume that these little creat- 
ures carve out their own homes in the rocks by 
means of their sharp, prickly spines ; but if they are 
as brittle as it is said, I do not see how this can be 
the case." 

" What's this queer lookin' fing in 'is jar ? " asked 
Rose. " There are two of 'em ; one is a tunnin' 
long fish, but I don't know what the other is." 

" That ? why, that's a cucumber," smiled Mr. 
Dumas. 

Rose looked at it steadily for a few seconds, and 
then said: 

" It's the tweerest lookin' tucumber I eber saw." 

" A sea-cucumber, Mr. Dumas means," said Grace. 
" It is a live little Holothuria ananas, and the fish 
is its parasite." 

592 






HOLOTHUKIA AXAXAS AXD ITS PARASITICAL 
FISH. 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



" What's it dot all its tongues out for ? " asked 
Rose. 

" Those are its tentacles, and it can draw them 
entirely out of sight when it pleases.'* 

*' The Malays catch them in great numbers for 
the Chinese, who are fond of them in their soups,' 
said Mr. Dumas. 

•' It must be tedious work catching such tiny 
things," said Grace. 

" It is. The Malays go out in boats, and at the 
distance of over a hundred feet down in the sea^ 
they behold the holothura clinging to the rocks, 
and strike it with a sort of harpoon. 

" Here are a cluster of sea-stars, belonging to the 
Echinoderms, which I collected and dried. I could 
not keep them alive in the glass jars. It is animal 
life in a strange form, isn't it? They are covered 
with a sort of a crust in order to protect them from 
their small sea enemies. They have five or more 
rays branching out from the center, in which their 
mouth may be found. All these rays are provided 
with numbers of tentacles, being in their case short, 
soft, fleshy tubes. With these they take their food, 
cling to the rocks with such force as to withstand 

595 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



the force of the waves, though they are often swept 
high and dry upon shore. If the animal is thrown 
upon its back, it frequently pushes out and draws 
in again its hundreds of tentacles. So intense is its 
vitality, that every ray but one may be crushed and 
lost en1:irely, yet the animal lives, and possesses the 
power of reproducing all his lost rays. They are 
very voracious, and prey upon dead or living animal 
substances. Some naturalists believe these star-fish 
possess the organ of sight." 

*' Oh, here are some tweer lookin' fowers stick in 
out of little clam-shells. They are all stickin' fast 
to a piece of old board," cried Rose. 

" These are little animals called Cirripedes, from 
cirrus, a curl, and pedis, a foot. They are the curly, 
footed animals," said Mr. Dumas. 

" I neber heard of anyfing wearing their curls on 
their foots," laughed Rose. 

" These curls are also their branchia through which 
they breathe. All of the species possess twenty-four 
claws apiece, the twelve longest arising from the 
back part of the animal. The twelve smaller ones 
arranged six on a side, are more pliable and fuller of 
hairs, answering the purpose of hands. The Cirri- 

596 




1. asteris paposa. 2. cidarites imperialis. 3. comatula 
Meditereanea. 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



pedes have no eyes, but possess a mouth, jaws and 
teeth. They have a heart, stomach, intestines, a 
nervous system and tendons by which they adhere to 
their shells. Another funny name they have is the 
Goose-bearing barnacled 

" Why, do they bear little gooses ? " laughed Rose. 




BARNACLES. 

" There was a ridiculous story in the dark ages 
that the barnacle goose was produced in the shells 
of these animals," said Mr. Dumas. 

" Why they have more than two shells ! " exclaimed 
May, after giving the strange creatures a very close 
examination. " They must be multivalvesr 

599 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



" Certainly, they are. The genus anatifa now is 
composed of five shells drawn together in the form 
of tulips. The Cirripedes are divided into two fam- 
ilies, the Anatifa and Balana. Balanus means an 
acorn. This last family is contained in a short con- 
ical shell in the shape of an acorn, and is attached 




without a stem to its support. They sometimes 
cover a vessel's sides to such an extent that she can 
scarcely move. Their tentacles they thrust out and 
quiver so violently that numbers of animalcules are 
drawn into the vortex and greedily devoured by 

600 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



them for food. If any danger is apparent they shut 
themselves up quickly in their mantle under their 
valves. 

" These sea-acorns were very much relished by the 
ancient Greeks at their tables ; and the Chinese con- 
sider them a great delicacy served up with salt and 
vinegar. Both families may be found on old rotten 
timber that is submerged, as well as on the sides of 
ships." 

" How do they get there ? " asked Frank. 

" At the commencement of their life they are at- 
tached to nothing, but on becoming adults cling to 
some foreign substance on which they can end their 
days; and to this home they must always stick, 
whether for better or for worse." 

" Mr. Dumas, why do they call jelly-fishes 
medusa ? " asked Frank. 

" There was a fabled Gorgan medusa whose head 
was adorned with snakes instead of tresses, and 
whose glaring eyes turned into stone everything 
which looked upon her. Some of the umbrella- 
shaped jelly-fishes with their pendant tentacles 
might have had a fancied resemblance to this fabu- 
lous creature; and, it may be, because their phos- 

601 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



phorescent light almost transfixed the unenlightened 
spectator into stone." 

" Phosphorescent ? " repeated Frank. " Tell us 
more about it, won't you ? " 

" Their beautiful tints shine with gorgeous splen- 
dor at night, sometimes with such brilliancy as to 
make the ocean look like a bed of flames. Sailors 
were very much frightened with this phenomena 
until after it was explained." 

" I have read that the phosphorescence at sea was 
caused by the night-shining nereis^ an animal also 
known under the name of the marine scolopendrce or 
centipede," said Grace. 

" The night-shining nereis is, undoubtedly, one of 
the causes. The sea is full of these tiny creatures, 
which are found on all kinds of marine plants ; but 
when they leave these plants to swim on the surface 
of the water they are particularly luminous, so small 
are they that thousands and myriads may be taken 
up in a little cup of sea water. They get in under 
the scales of fishes and cause them, too, to exhibit a 
phosphoresent light." 

" Haven't any of the animals fins, we have been 
talking about tc^day ? " asked May. 

60^ 



WHAT WAS IN THE JARS. 



" Not unless you make the numerous cilia and 
tentacles answer the purpose of fins, for it is by them 
that the medusce swim and move." 

" Have you anything more for us to see ? " asked 
Frank. 

" A few more specimens if you'll come to-morrow, 
I have an engagement for this afternoon." 



mi 




CHAPTER VII, 



QUEER FISH. 



" Now," said Mr. Dumas, " I am going to show 
you some queer fish. They are accorded the very 
lowest place in animated nature. For a long time 
they were considered vegetables, but have since been 
proved to be animals, True, the only symptom 
of vitality it shows, is a visible trembling or contrac- 
tion on being touched, yet It has a fishy smell, and 
on being burned has an odor like scorched wool or 
horn, proving that it is a specimen of animated 

604 



^::.: 




QUEER FISH. 



nature. When living, the skeleton is covered with 
a sticky gelatine. Now, according to chemistry, 
gelatine can be obtained from animal tissues only ; 
and chemists have even abstracted a fatty matter 
from the animal in question which they have ana- 
lyzed and found it to contain (quoting from another) 
* carbon, hydrogen, azate, iodine, sulphur, phosphorus, 
and somewhat larger quantities of phosphate, car- 
bonate, and sulphate of lime, marine salt, silicia, 
magnesia, alumina and sulphate of iron.' When 
you children enter into the study of chemistry you 
will understand all these terms." 

And producing something from his coat pocket, 
Mr. Dumas held it up, saying: 

" Now, Rose, what have I here ?" 

" A round ball of sponge with little trees drowin' 
in it," she answered. 

" Yes ; it is the sp07igia cymar 

" What does cyma mean ? " asked May. 

" Sprout. This is sponge with vegetable sprouts. 
Now is this animal dead or alive .f^ " 

" Dead," they all answered. 

" Yes," said Mr. Dumas, " his skin and flesh are 
all gone, and if I touch him he doesn't tremble the 

607 



QUEER FISH. 



least. If you will notice, you will see that some of 
the holes through the sponge are larger than others. 
When sponges are alive, and in a healthy condition, 
a constant stream of water may be seen issuing from 
the larger holes, while all the small ones seem as 
equally intent upon drinking, the water finding its 
way through all the canals before it is expelled. 
Now this circulation of fluid answers the purpose of 
nutrition, for without it the sponge could not live or 
grow. This water which flows through the pores 
also carries with it the eggs of the animal. These 
eggs, or corpuscules, are covered with hairs, by which 
they move through the water with great ease, until 
they attach themselves to some object after which 
they do not stir. It is found on submarine rocks in 
great abundance, and in a great variety of form and 
size. Here is another sponge I have, in the form of 
a vase." 

" Are they found very deep down in the water .^ " 
asked Frank. 

" Generally. The finer the specimens, the deeper 
they are." 

" Then they must be obtained by diving i " 

"Yes, of course." 

608 



QUEER FISH. 



" Won't you please tell us something about the 
divers ? " 

'' There are men to dive for sponges, as well as for 
pearls and corals. The sponge fishery is now carried 
on more in the Grecian Archipelago than anywhere 
else, and on the Syrian shore. The fishery opens in 
June, and ends in October. The commonest of the 
sponges are caught with three-toothed harpoons, but 
the finer species would be injured by such a process, 
besides they are much deeper down in the water, so 
divers go down to the bottom of the sea and cut it 
off with strong, sharp knives. After obtaining the 
sponges they must be buried in the sand for some 
days, and then taken up, thoroughly soaked and 
washed, otherwise they would putrify and perish. 
Sponges belong to the family 6^^?;^^^/^^^ and to the 
fifth, or lowest branch of the animal kingdom, which 
is Protozoal 

" I don't think I quite understand some things 
about sponges, yet," said Grace. " Sponges are pro- 
duced by minute animals called polypi are they not } " 

"Yes." 

" Then why do they call the sponge an animal, 
instead of animals ? " 

609 



QUEER FISH. 



" Because it is a compound animal composed of 
all these little polypi. The greater part of these 
tiny things adhere together and form compound 
animals. The sponge forms the lowest race of the 
polypi. 

" Now going up one step higher in the animal 
kingdom we shall take up the order of Zomitharia ; 
for marine polypi are divided into three orders, the 
most interesting of which is the order just mentioned. 

" The Zoantharia comprise two large families, 
the stony, or madreporic Zoantharia and the fleshy 
Zoantharia. That was madreporic Zoantharia we 
found in the box of shells growing upon the oyster. 
I have some more corals in a different form which I 
will show you." And this time Mr. Dumas exhib- 
ited a glass case of corals. 

" O, how beautiful ! " exclaimed Grace. 

" They are just like old snarly trees in winter- 
time," said May. 

•' Don't they have leaves on 'em in summer } " 
asked Rose. 

" No, because they are like the little madrepore 
you saw attached to the oyster shell ; they are the 
stony skeletons of numerous little polypids. Sup- 

610 




CuKALS. 



QUEER FISH. 



pose I break off a piece that I may better explain. 
The calcarious substance you will see is arranged in 
layers. Now the outside layer is called the bark, 
and is of a greyish color. You see that it is all full 
of little knobs, and in the very tip ends of the knobs 
are eight tiny holes. Now what do you suppose 
those holes are for ? " 

The children didn't know. 

" Why, for the polypi to stick their eight tentacles 
through to be sure ; for, as in the sponges, they are 
compound animals being one step higher in possess- 
ing tentacles. From the eggs of the little polypi in 
the corals, are formed bulbs, from which a stem 
shoots upward, on which branches grow. There is 
also a root which serves as a means of attachment. 
They take in their food by means of their long ten- 
tacula. I will now peel off the outside layer." 

" What a b'ooful, bright red ! " exclaimed Rose. 

"Yes, just like the material out of which your 
coral chain is made. Divers for coral are furnished 
with a great cross, from the arms of which hang 
solid nets. This cross is lowered to the bottom of 
the sea with a stout rope. The diver then goes 
down and remains a half minute, moving the arms 

613 



QUEER FISH, 



of the cross rapidly around, so that they will scrape 
the rocks to which the coral sticks, thus entangling 
them in the nets. Then men on board of a boat 
pull at the rope bringing up the diver and his treas- 
ures to the surface. 



MM M 






•%*■ 

'' V 



1^ % 



'J. ; r 



/ 









SEA ANEMONES. 

" Now we will pass on to the fleshy Zoantharia 
called actinias or sea-anemones. Here is the arbor- 
escent or tree-like actina. 

614 



QUEER FISH. 



" The body is a kind of sack, the bottom of it 
adhering to the sea-bed, while the mouth of the 
sack is open, through which several rows of tenta- 
cula shoot up like the branches of a tree. These 
animal flowers are flesh-eating, and in order to keep 
them in my aquarium in a healthy condition, I am 
obliged to feed them with meat and fish and worms." 

" O, Mr. Dumas, won't you let us see you ! I'd 
like so much to see a flower eat ! " exclaimed May. 

Some worms were procured, and the children were 
delighted, as well as astonished, to see the avidity 
with which the strange animal-flowers seized them 
from off the ends of the long reeds that were pre- 
sented to them. 

" Some of the actinias remain buried in the sand 
only thrusting out their tentacles, others are fastened 
to rocks which are almost on a level with the surface 
of the water. Unlike the sponges and corals, these 
animals can change their position when they choose. 
I have frequently seen them passing from one stone 
to another, and creeping along the sides of the aqua- 
rium. Sometimes they come up to the surface and 
seem to be enjoying the air. In this globe is the 
actina Pumosa of St. Helena." 

615 



QUEER FISH. 



" It looks just like a booful toilet tushion I " ex- 
claimed Rose. 

" The opening at the top is the creature's mouth, 
and the circle of fringe its several tentacula. The 
mouth is furnished with crooked teeth. This kind 
feeds principally upon shell-fish, which it draws into 
its mouth by means of its arms or tentacles. They 
cast out the shells and other hard substances through 
the same opening. If a shell is swallowed by mis- 
take, it forces itself through the body, coming out 
near the base, and causing a wound. The whole in- 
side of the body is one stomach. 

" When they want to walk they let go their hold 
of the rock, turn themselves over, and use their ten- 
tacula or arms for legs." 

" O, how funny ! " cried the children. 

" When their tentacles are fully expanded they 
have the appearance of full-blawn flowers, many of 
them of very brilliant colors. When contracted, 
they have the form of a rounded cone. There are 
purple actinias, red, rose, blue, yellow, violet, in fact 
they may be found in almost any color. They be- 
long to the family Actinadce and to the order 
Helianthoida, 

616 



QUEER FISH. 



" Don't you find a difficulty in keeping them ? " 
asked Grace. 

" They are not so difficult to keep as some other 
things. If kept in a jar of salt water, frequently 
changed, they will live and flourish nicely. If, how- 
ever, from neglect, they become unhealthy, their in- 
testines protrude from their mouth, and they turn 
inside out. If the water is renewed soon enough, 
they will turn back again, and assume their natural 
shape." 

'• I never heard so many queer things in all my 
life," said May. 

" These animals have no eyes, yet the light 
affects them. If a light be held over the glasses in 
which they are kept, even though at such a distance 
as to communicate no heat, they close up and will 
not expand again until the light is taken away. 

" A Frenchman once made several experiments 
on the rose-colored actinia. He cut off its tentacles, 
all of them, and they grew on again in less than a 
month. Then he cut the entire upper part off, but 
the animal entirely recovered its right proportions. 
He also cut one of them in two and offered a piece 
of a muscle to the detached part, and the limbs 

ei7 



QUEER FISH. 



eagerly seized it. They took it into the mouth and 
the animal swallowed it, it coming out at the oppo- 
site end. If the base of any of these flowers was 
cut, then the wound proved mortal. 

" Here is another beautiful actinia I have to show 
you. This actinia has a cylindrical body, and its 




ACTINIA. 



tentacles look like those of the arborescent actinia, 
only they are shorter and more spread out. 

" All the actinias are viviperous. 

"In collecting actinias it is best to separate them 
from the rocks, by carefully introducing a board be- 

ei8 



QUEER FISH. 



neath, so that they may not be injured. They will 
flourish in glass vessels of sea-water, if the water is 
changed once a week." 

" Is there no vegetable life at all in the ocean? 
Are all the flowers half plants, half stones ; half 
plants, half animals ? " asked Frank. 

" There is the immense algcs 2in6.fuci classed in 
the vegetable kingdom, yet some naturalists believe 
that they, too, are animal matter built by the polypi 
the same as are sponges and coral. In fact, there is 
so little difference between sea-weed and sponges 
and corals that naturalists themselves are puzzled. 
But the bed of the sea is a garden of beauty even 
though all its wonders are full of life. It is like 
enchanted land — it is the fairy's world. Life in 
almost every form and color is there found." 

" It would almost be worth any one's while to be 
a diver, if they could but catch glimpses of so many 
hidden splendors," said Frank. 

" A half minute's glimpse would be only enough to 
provoke, instead of satisfy," said May. 

" But Mr. Dumas, is not there a diving bell in 
which a man can go down to the bottom of the sea 
and remain for whole hours, breathing with full 



QUEER FISH, 



lungs and walking about as if perfectly at home ? " 
asked Frank. 

"O how splendid!" exclaimed Rose, clapping her 
hands. 

" Life can be sustained for several minutes under 
the diving bell ; but the best armor is a reservoir of 
compressed air which the diver may buckle on his 
back, then with a system of nicely-arranged rakes 
and a double tube of India-rubber fitted over his 
mouth makes respiration easy, even down into the 
depths of the sea. The apparatus may also be fas- 
tened to a supply pump. A strong man may thus 
remain under the sea for an hour or two." 



620 




CHAPTER VIII. 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



Pat came running up to the house the next day, 
followed by the children. 

Well, Pat, what have you in your tin cup ? asked 
Mr. Dumas, who was sitting with Grace upon the 
front piazza. 

" Sure, sir, and that's just what I was wantin to 
know. They must be some kind of fish, yer honor, 
becase I feund them in the wather." 

621 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



" Everything is not fish that lives in the water." 

*' Sure, and I brought the craythers up to Miss 
Grace. She kin tell me, I know." 

" O Tousin Grace, they're tunnin' little fish with 
shells, ticks and little bits of 'tones all ober 'em ! " 
exclaimed Rose. 

" Frank says he don't believe that they are fish at 
all," said May. , 






" Then what are they ? " said Grace, taking the 
cup, and carefully examining the subjects. 

" They look more like some kind of a worm," 
said Frank. 

" You are right, for they are Caddis worms. They 
are the larvae of the Caddice fiy." 

" Were they hatched with those shells and sticks 
on their backs ? " asked May. 

622 




FoRAMiNiFEEA {FossU Shells), 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



" No, they made those cases for themselves. They 
are the houses which the httle worms live in." 

" How did they stick them together ? " asked 
May. 

" By silken threads secreted in their own bodies. 
The insect, in a perfect state, is a fly with four 
hairy membranous wings and long antennce. They 
frequent marshy places, being very active in their 
movements, though awkward in their flight. They 
belong to the family PhryganidcB and to the order 
Neurapterar 

" If you will wait until I go to my room," said 
Mr. Dumas, " I will bring down a microscope that 
we may examine these little cases more minutely. 
One case is composed entirely of shells, another of 
bark, and this one of sticks and seeds," added Mr. 
Dumas, handing over the microscope to Grace. 

Then the children took their turns at the glass, 
and were much entertained. 

" Isn't there something else that we can look at 
through the microscope ? " asked Frank. 

" Why, yes, you can spend all day with it if you 
like. Here is a box of sand I would like to put 
under the instrument. It came from the sea-shore." 

625 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 

"Why," exclaimed Grace, "it is half shells; and 
to think that all these tiny shells once held a living 
occupant 

" They are Foraminifera'' said Mr. Dumas. " A 
name given to a group of tiny organisms having 
calcarious shells. They were, until recently, called 
microscopic Cephalopods, but are now regarded as 
Protozoa, the pores in the shells being for the tiny 
occupants to thrust out their delicate filaments in 
order to take in their food or to aid them in 
locomotion. Recent Foraminifera are beautiful 
subjects for the microscope, but they are found 
more plentifully in the fossil state. In the fossil 
state, these tiny shells may be found in rocks of all 
formations. The grandest city in the world is said 
to be built of them, since they constitue the stones 
of which the city is built. Even the pyramids of 
Egypt are said to be composed of these Foraminifera, 
massed together into the stone work, and there are 
mountains largely composed of just such tiny shells." 

" Now, children, when you see the world is full 
of creatures that you cannot see at all without a 
glass," said Grace, " don't you think your lifetimes 
too short for the study of natural history } " 

626 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



" The world is teeming with animal life even 
beyond the power of the most powerful microscope," 
said Mr. Dumas. 

May took a pin, and tried to touch one of the 
little shells, which only appeared to be a grain of sand. 

Rose watched her intently, then puckering up 
her forehead, said : 

" How tan God make such little fings ? ' 

" A mystery that has puzzled greater philosophers 
than we," said Mr. Dumas. 

" I was about to show you," added Mr. Dumas, 
"what moves in water unseen, or unnoticed, since 
we have been talking so much about water-creatures 
in the few days past. Who will bring me a drop 
of stagnant water upon a leaf ? 

The children all ran to a little pool, but Pat was 
foremost with a cup full. 

Mr. Dumas placed a drop on a single leaf, and 
placed it under the microscope. 

" What do you see. Rose ? " asked Frank, impa- 
tiently, as the little baby-student kept them waiting 
a long time for their turns. 

" O, eber so many fings ! There are fishes and 
worms, and little snakes and lots of jumpin' fings!" 

m 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



" Well, let somebody else see these wonders," said 
Frank. 

" What is that thing with a feather on the end 
of its tail ? " asked May, when she got the glass. 
" It looks something like .a wee bit of a lobster." 

" Well, so it is. It is called Cyclops Quadricornis. 
Quadric oralis, because it has four horns or antenna^ 
and Cyclops, because it has one eye. It belongs to 




a genus of minute Crustaceans, and to the order 
Entomostraca. They may be found in clear or 
stagnant water, and are some of the animals which 
help to make the sea luminous. Now, let us cut 
off the tail of this little lobster, and place it under 
a reflecting microscope, for you see I have one glass 
just for very small objects. The feathers at the end 
of the two-pronged tail, are the Cyclops fins or 

628 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



Cilia with which he swims. Now, do each one of 
you notice those two little purses on each side of 
the mother Cyclops' eggs, and if you will observe 
closely, you will see the Cyclops young in several 
stages. They look like little crabby bugs. The 
smallest one has just been hatched. Another, a 
little larger is eight days old ; another, fifteen, and 
another more than a month old. You see the largest 
one is beginning to take the form of its mother. 




Each one of the mother's bags contains as many as 
forty eggs. All of the Entomostraca are covered 
with hard, horny shells. Here is a Cypris which 
seems to be a tiny bivalve, for it has its body en- 
closed in a shell of two horny pieces. They have 
feathered legs and antenncs which serve them for 
fins and Cilia. They are a very common species, 
and swim with great rapidity. Remove its shell 

629 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



and you have an animal like this. Do you see that 
beautiful red object ? That is a Daphnia, and it is a 
genus of mollusks belonging to the order Brachio- 
podo. This is always a favorite microscopic object." 

" Please, Mr. Dumas, are such little creatures as 
these any good ? " asked May. 

" Certainly they are ; for nothing God has wrought 
is for naught. They are very useful in cleansing 




stagnant water from decomposing matter. Nothing 
but mites, yet a mission to fill." 

" Faith, sir, and I'd loike to ask what koind of 
craythers they are with the little wheels spinnin' 
around. They are the purtiest and the oddest of 
'em all to be sure," said Pat. 

" They are wheel-animalculae or Rotifiers. There 
are a great many species. They belong to the 
branch Protozoa, and were placed by Ehrenberg 
among the Infusoriar 

630 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



" What are Infusoria ? " asked May. 

" They are the animalcules which tinge stagnant 
water with green." 

"And is it animals which makes the wather 
o-reen? Sure, and I've wondered mony a toime 
where the green scum come from," said Pat. 

" So have I," said May. 

" Their nutriment consists of decayed vegetable 
and animal matter, hence why we find them in 





stagnant pools of water. Their various motions 
are exercised merely for the purpose of obtaining 
their prey. The rotation of their wheels causes an 
eddy in the water, which attracts into its vortex 
animalcules which are swimming near. Then it 
contracts its tentacula, and has them fast. These 
Rotifiers may be kept for months out of water, 
appearing like a little round grain of sand, yet 
coming to life and motion on being replaced in 
water. These wheel-bearers frequently change their 

631 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



shapes. They can withdraw their wheels at pleasure 
and become a globule. I have seen an animalcule 
called the Protean Vibrio^ which first had the ap- 
pearance of a tiny graceful swan. It changed its 
form many times. Sometimes it would draw its 
head and long neck entirely out of sight, and take 
the form of a cone, then it would throw out a 
wheel and appear to be a Rotijier^,' 




" Does it belong to the same species as the 
wheel-bearers ? " 

" It belongs to the branch Protozoa, the same ; 
and are ranked among the Rhizapoda, which move 
by minute tentacular filaments." 

" I see some little green balls moving about in 

the water. What are they ? " asked Frank. 

" Volrox Globators. They roll over like a ball, 

68:^ 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



spin like a top, or glide along. They seem to be 
studded with a great many green spots which are 
surrounded with tiny hairs or Cilia, These spots 
are globulets which contain their young. When 
they are properly matured, the exterior membrane 
bursts, and the little ones begin an existence of 
their own." 

" Mr. Dumas, what are these things on this leaf?" 
asked Frank. 

" Those are HydrcE or Polyps. They have a long 
tubular body fixed at the base, and their mouths are 
surrounded by arms or tentacles. They are cer- 




tainly one of the most wonderful productions of 
nature. The long-armed and green Polyp will 
speak for the whole class. They affix themselves 
to the under parts of leaves and to the stems of 
vegetable matter that grow immersed in water, and 
feed upon small worms for the most part, and swal- 
lows them leisurely, though they may be three times 
larger than themselves. Sometimes two Polyps com- 

633 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



mence swallowing the same worm, one commencing 
on each end until their mouths meet, then the 
largest Polyp gapes, and swallows his foe and all ; 
but, instead of suffering any by the process, he 
remains in his brother Polyp's stomach for an hour, 
when, strange to say, he comes out unhurt, and very 
often with the prey which he was contending for." 
" If I iver heard the loikes of that, sure, in all my 
born days ! " exclaimed Pat, throwing himself down 




and rolling over and over with laughter, which he 
was joined in by the others until the tears rolled 
down their cheeks. 

" Sure, now ! " said Pat, again. 

" Another very astonishing thing about these 
little creatures is, that if they are all cut to pieces, 
not only the parent-stock will remain uninjured, but 
every piece, though there are hundreds, will become 
a distinct animal. The head of one species may be 

634 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 



engrafted on the body of another, forming one 
creature. Both tails may be cut off, and the two 
head portions of the animal be engrafted together 
and they will form one animal with two heads. 
These creatures are very active for most of the year, 
but when it becomes very cold all action is sus- 
pended, and they remain torpid until warmer weather 
comes," 




" Were the Hydrcs we were talking about as 
being the mothers of some of the little baby jelly- 
fish the HydrcB you have been telling us about 
to-day," asked May. 

" Those were marine Hydrcs, These are fresh 
water ones," said Mr. Dumas. 

" Let me see if I can name over everything we 



REVELATIONS OF THE MICROSCOPE. 

have talked of and seen to-day," said Frank. " First, 
there was the Caddis worm, then the Foramnifera, 
Cyclops quadricornes belonging to the order Ento- 
mostraca, and then the little baby Cyclops, the Cypris 
the Rotifiers, the Volrox Globators and the HydrcB 
or Polypsr 

" That will do," said Mr. Dumas. " Now bound 
away to your play." 

The children did not need a second invitation 
and Mr. Dumas and Grace were left alone. 

" O, Mr. Dumas, how can I ever thank you 
enough, for the interest you have taken in the 
children ? " said Grace, earnestly. " I am sure our 
lessons will grow dull when we take them up at 
home alone." 

" It has, indeed, been a happy summer," said Mr. 
Dumas, " and I am glad if I have in any way helped 
make it so." 



